Speaking to reporters after returning from Pakistan where he attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) in Islamabad, Larijani expressed the hope that the ECO Parliamentary Conference's Executive Secretariat would see into expanded cooperation among the ECO member countries, and particularly among their parliaments.
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.
