ECO 2-day Lawmakers' Moot Begins In Islamabad

Islamabad, Sept 5, IRNA – A two-day meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) parliamentarians started in Islamabad on Tuesday. Member of Iranian Parliament, Mehdi Sanai, Ambassador of Iran Alireza Haghighian, Sectary General of ECO, Dr. Shamil Aleskerov, along with the Parliamentarians of ECO member states are participating in the conference on the invitation of Pakistani Speaker of National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza. Sectary General of ECO, Dr. Shamil Aleskerov in his address threw light on the functions of the ECO and its role in bringing stability in the region. He added that the ECO Parliamentarians will deliberate upon the proposed draft charter under which a Parliamentary Association of Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) would be formed. He said the charter would be formally adopted in the meeting. He was confident that the meeting would help in enhancing economic cooperation among the ECO member states. Member of Iranian Parliament, Mehdi Sanai talking to IRNA said that the objective of the meeting is to deliberate on the draft to form Parliamentary Association of Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO). He said that establishment of PAECO would help in bring regional integration. He added that during the meeting the members of the PAECO would be selected. Mehdi Sanai said that in the meeting PAECO secretariat would also be formed. He noted that the objective of this organization is to review the regional approach and devise a strategy to counter the policies of US and some western states. He was hopeful that Parliamentary Association of Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) would make the region stronger. “We are participating in the meeting with a positive approach,” said the Iranian Parliamentarian. The charter passed by Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) parliamentarians meeting would be formally adopted in the meeting of the Speakers/Presiding Officers of the ECO Member Countries' Parliaments to be held in Islamabad, later this year. The establishment of PAECO is an initiative of Fehmida Mirza, Speaker, National Assembly on the pattern of SAARC Speaker's Forum and Parliamentary Union of Organization of Islamic Countries (PUOIC). After the first session of the ECP Parliament meeting the participants attended a lunch hosted by Pakistani Speaker of National Assembly Fehmida Mirza. The meeting of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) parliamentarians is being held at the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS). Economic Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states. It was the successor organization of what was the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), founded in 1964, which ended activities in 1979. In the fall of 1992, the ECO expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan./end