TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian says Iran attaches great significance to further expansion of its economic cooperation with Asian partners.
“Deepening and expanding economic cooperation with neighbors, the regional countries, and Asian countries is among the priorities of the Iranian government’s diplomacy,” the top diplomat said.
Amir-Abdollahian was addressing the 30th anniversary of expansion of the intergovernmental Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in 1992, which saw the body being joined by Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
“Multilateral and regional organizations such as ECO enjoy an important role in [the implementation of] this strategy,” he added.
“Fortunately, there is consensus among all of ECO’s member states about the organization’s active and passive capacities for economic cooperation and convergence,” Amir-Abdollahian noted, calling the capacities “commendable, remarkable, and effective.”
The Tehran-headquartered ECO was established by the Islamic Republic, Pakistan, and Turkey in 1985. The main purpose of the organization is to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states.
Amir-Abdollahian noted that the member countries’ economies performed synergistically concerning energy resources, skillful workforce, transportation networks, and food security as well as technological and innovative collaboration.
“This, together with common cultural, religious, and civilizational roots,” he added, “has led to an increasingly brighter outlook for cooperation” among the organization’s constituents.