Iran urges ECO to draw up energy charter

TEHRAN, May 31 (MNA) - Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi called on the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to draw up an energy charter which will be used as the base for cooperation in the energy sector. In a meeting with ECO Secretary General Mohammad Yahya Maroofi in Tehran on Tuesday, Qasemi said a draft of the proposed charter can be prepared jointly by the Institute for International Energy Studies and the ECO. He also suggested that those ECO members which hold notable energy resources could create a special energy zone in which they provide investors with special facilities. Qasemi said the proposal for creating the special energy zone will be discussed in the meeting of energy ministers of the ECO states which will be held in Tehran on June 25-27, the Shana news agency reported. ECO is an intergovernmental regional economic organization which includes Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.