ECO can function as bridge between Europe, Asia: president

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday said that the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) region, located at the crossroads, has both the potential and the capacity to function as a bridge between North and South, Europe and Asia.

He further stressed the importance of combating transnational crimes, including terrorism, money laundering & drug trafficking and reiterated the significance of judicial cooperation between the ECO member states. Talking to a delegation of attorneys/prosecutors general of ECO countries, which led by Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation Halil Ibrahim Akca, called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president said that as the current chairman of ECO, Pakistan realises its responsibility and extends its full support to the ECO projects and initiatives. He emphasised that institutional and people-to-people connectivity is of immense importance for the region. He highlighted that the deliberations at the 3rd meeting of attorneys/prosecutors general will lead to enhance judicial cooperation between the ECO member states. He underlined that the meeting will help participants exchange perceptions of crimes such as acts of terrorism, smuggling and money laundering. He expressed hope that the meeting will also address possible oversight mechanisms to combat these crimes at the regional and international level.

He said that effective judicial cooperation will contribute to the security, stability and economic uplift of the region. He underscored that ECO members need to strengthen transport and communication infrastructure, facilitate trade and investment and identify important sectoral priorities of the ECO for development and growth in the region. He pointed out that economic complementarities hold the promise of expanding both inter-regional and intra-regional trade and cooperation within the ECO framework. He added that ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) is the Organisation’s major initiative towards trade liberalisation in the ECO region.

The president said that the 13th ECO Summit held in Islamabad last year adopted the Islamabad Declaration and ECO vision 2025. He stressed that the Islamabad Declaration provides guidelines for greater economic integration within the ECO region. “The declaration focuses on ‘connectivity’ as a dynamic concept encompassing multiple dimensions from transit transport linkages to cyber connections,” he said and added that the execution of “ECO Vision-2025” underscores the importance of working together for ECO’s prosperity, and Pakistan believes that the ECO Vision 2025 will serve as a roadmap for the success of the organisation in coming years.