Mashhad-Hosted ECO Meeting Set to Begin: Iran Foreign Ministry
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced on Sunday that the 28th meeting of foreign ministers of the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) will be held “next week” in Mashhad.
Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that ministers and high-ranking officials from various sectors of ECO will attend the meeting.
Esmail Baghaei stated: “Ministers and senior officials of ECO from different sectors will be present at this meeting.”
He further added: “Senior officials and ministers of the ECO member states, along with the directors of the organization’s specialized regional bodies and the secretary-generals of some multilateral economic organizations, will participate in this important regional meeting.”
Baghaei explained that this year, the chairmanship of the ECO meeting will be held by Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister.
The ECO was established in 1985 by Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan with the aim of strengthening economic, trade, and cultural cooperation among its member states.
The organization expanded in 1992, with Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan joining. ECO now has 10 members and is considered one of the important regional cooperation bodies in Central and Western Asia. It remains unclear whether a representative from the Islamic Emirate will attend this meeting. However, Afghanistan’s seat was vacant at last year’s ECO meeting.
