.
Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday, Larijani said creating political and economic convergence, exploiting the opportunities presented by the world economy, developing communications and transit infrastructures and environmental cooperation, making efforts to exploit energy, industrial and agricultural capacities and also strengthening the historical and cultural bonds among the regional nations are ECO objectives which should be materialized.
He warned that ECO members are faced with the fact that national and international crises are affecting their conditions, and said, "Therefore, the potential of PAECO should be exploited for political and security consultations to promote peace and tranquility which is the foundation of sustainable development to decrease losses and damages and reorganize the situation in the region."
Larijani left Tehran for Islamabad on Monday morning to take part at a conference of the PAECO.
The ECO is an intergovernmental organization involving seven Asian and three Eurasian nations, part of the South-central Asian Union. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities. The ECO is an ad hoc organization under the United Nations Charter (Chap. VIII). The common objective is to establish a single market for goods and services, much like the European Union.
ECO's secretariat and cultural department are located in Tehran, its economic bureau is in Turkey and its scientific bureau is situated in Pakistan. The organization's population is 416,046,863 and the area is 8,620,697 km². The organization was founded by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.
The ECO has 10 member-states at present time. Turkey, Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are member-states of ECO.
