ECO transport ministers to discuss regional projects in Avaza
On May 3rd, the ninth meeting of the Ministers of Transport of the member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) will be held in the Avaza national tourism zone. Heads of departments will discuss infrastructure projects aimed at increasing the economic integration of the region and increasing trade, including taking into account the capabilities of the new International Seaport, built in the city of Turkmenbashi.
The issues related to the organization and holding of the forthcoming meeting will be discussed at the 23rd meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of ECO, which will be held on April 17th in Dushanbe.
The proposal to hold a meeting of ECO transport ministers in Turkmenistan was announced a year ago, in March 2017, by President Berdimuhamedov during the XIII Summit of the ECO in Islamabad. As the Turkmen leader noted at the time, the national program for the development of the transport system of Turkmenistan is connected with the expansion of regional and international cooperation in this direction, stressing that our country initiates large infrastructure projects and implements them jointly with foreign partners.
Among these projects are the construction of transnational railways Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan, the creation of transit transport corridors Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman, Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey.
According to the head of Turkmenistan, the establishment of transport and transit corridors in the framework of the Economic Cooperation Organization will stimulate the implementation of other infrastructure projects.
On February 23rd, 2018 ECO Secretary General Khalil Ibrahim Akka took part in the opening of key regional infrastructure projects, namely the ceremony of which was held in Turkmenistan in Serhetabat, the beginning of the construction of the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline, the power line line and the fiber optic communication line along it, and the launch of a new railway from Serhetabat to Afghanistan's Turgundi.
The projects were launched by Turkmen President Berdimuhamedov, his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Hakan Abbasi and State Minister for Foreign Affairs of India Javed Akbar.
ECO is a regional interstate organization, formed in 1985 by the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East. After the accession of 7 new states to ECO - Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - the activity of the organization has significantly increased. The current chairman of the ECO is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (since February 28, 2017).
The previous, 8th meeting of ECO transport ministers was also held in Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat, in June 2011.
