Regional trade unites ECO member states: Iran FM

Speaking during the 20th Meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers in Baku, Salehi said an increase of ECO regional trade can stabilize macroeconomic environment in the entire region and create more unity among the organization's member states.

The top diplomat added that Iran has played an important role in the development of ECO transportation and transit projects and increasing intra-regional trade, Press TV reported. Salehi noted that the Islamic Republic attaches high importance to ECO in its regional policies and the country has always continued to support different parts of the organization, ISNA reports. The Iranian foreign minister also discussed regional issues and bilateral relations in separate meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, and Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on the sidelines of the ECO meeting. The ministerial meeting of ECO is scheduled to be followed by the 12th ECO Summit of Heads of State and Heads of Governments on October 16, which will be attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ECO 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. In 1992, the ECO expanded its membership to include seven new countries of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.