Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday reiterated Pakistan's continued commitment and support to the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) and the common endeavour to achieve greater regional co-operation. She stated this in her message on the occasion of 20th ECO Day, being marked on Wednesday (today) in the 10 member countries of the organisation.
"On the occasion of the 20th ECO Day, it gives me great pleasure to convey felicitations of the Government and the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Member States of ECO," she said, adding that the ECO has come a long way since its inception and the Organisation has achieved important progress in achieving economic co-operation in the region.
The ECO was established by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey in 1985 as the successor organisation of the Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD), which remained in existence between 1964 and 1979. Subsequently, it became an Organisation of 10 member countries - Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
November 28 is being marked as ECO Day in member countries when other member states joined the organisation in 1992. "I would like to avail this opportunity to reiterate Pakistan's continued commitment and support to ECO and our common endeavour to achieve greater regional co-operation," said the Foreign Minister, adding, "While we celebrate the Organisation's achievements, we must also take this opportunity and reflect on the challenges still facing the ECO regions".
She said that the 20th Council of Ministers and 12th ECO Summit held in October 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan provided us a good opportunity in this regard. "I am confident that we will be able to timely achieve the objectives and agreements reached during the Summit," she expressed the optimism.
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