Iranian official: Iran’s share of ECO trade stands at $10 billion

TEHRAN,May 20(MNA) - Iran’s share of the annual trade turnover among the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is around $10 billion, said the head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran. Hamid Safdel told that $6 billion is the share of Iran’s exports to the ECO member states. The 10-member organization’s share in the global trade is roughly around $684 billion annually, he noted. The secretary general of the ECO said in September 2011 that the organization plans to set up a common trade market among its member states. “Under the agreement reached between ECO members, the common trade market should be established by 2015,” Muhammad Yahya Maroofi told . Maroofi further said that the establishment of the market requires the approval of the parliaments of at least half of the member countries. So far, the parliaments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan have ratified the law, he said, adding Tajikistan's parliament is now examining the issue. The ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, which provides a platform to promote economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states. The organization was expanded in 1992 to include seven new members, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ECO's secretariat and cultural department are located in Tehran while its economic bureau is in Turkey and its scientific bureau is situated in Pakistan.