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Economic Cooperation Organization
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| Motto: "Sustainable socio-economic development for people of the region" | ||||
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Member states of the ECO
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| Headquarters | Tehran, Iran | |||
| Official language | English | |||
| Type | Cooperation | |||
| Membership | 10 member states | |||
| Leaders | ||||
| - | Secretary General | Yahya Maroofi | ||
| Establishment | 1985 | |||
| Area | ||||
| - | Total | 7,937,197 km2 3,064,568.90 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||
| - | 2010 estimate | 416,046,863 | ||
| - | Density | 651/km2 1,686.1/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2010 (IMF) estimate | |||
| - | Total | $2,697,037 million | ||
| - | Per capita | $6,483 | ||
| Website http://www.ecosecretariat.org |
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The Economic Cooperation Organization (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.[1] The organization was founded by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.
Economic Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states. It was the successor organisation of what was the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), founded in 1964, which ended activities in 1979. In the fall of 1992, the ECO expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The status and power of the ECO is growing. However, the organization faces many challenges. Most importantly, the member states are lacking appropriate infrastructure and institutions which the Organization is primarily seeking to develop, to make full use of the available resources in the region and provide sustainable development for the member nations.
The Economic Cooperation Organisation Trade Agreement (ECOTA) was signed on 17 July 2003 in Islamabad.[2] ECO Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) is a new organization for trade promotion among member states located in Iran (2009).[3]
| Official name |
Capital |
Area (km²) |
Population (2010) |
Density (per km²) |
GDP (2010)(nominal)[4] |
GDP (2010) (per capita)[5] |
Currency |
Official languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islamic Republic of Afghanistan | Kabul | 647,500 | 29,662,000 | 46 | $16,968 million | $572 | Afghani | Dari, Pashto |
| Republic of Azerbaijan | Baku | 86,600 | 9,040,000 | 104 | $51,787 million | $5,728 | Manat | Azerbaijani |
| Islamic Republic of Iran | Tehran | 1,648,195 | 75,350,000 | 46 | $359,970 million | $4,777 | Rial | Persian |
| Republic of Kazakhstan | Astana | 2,724,900 | 15,584,000 | 6 | $126,346 million | $8,107 | Tenge | Kazakh |
| Kyrgyz Republic | Bishkek | 199,900 | 5,444,000 | 27 | $5,122 million | $940 | Som | Kyrgyz, Russian |
| Islamic Republic of Pakistan | Islamabad | 803,940 | 166,578,000 | 207 | $177,901 million | $1,068 | Rupee | Urdu, English |
| Republic of Tajikistan | Dushanbe | 143,100 | 6,536,000 | 46 | $5,499 million | $841 | Somoni | Tajik |
| Republic of Turkey | Ankara | 783,562 | 71,428,000 | 91 | $710,737 million | $9,950 | Lira | Turkish |
| Turkmenistan | Ashgabat | 488,100 | 5,439,000 | 11 | $20,232 million | $3,720 | Manat | Turkmen |
| Republic of Uzbekistan | Tashkent | 447,400 | 28,246,000 | 63 | $37,290 million | $1,320 | Som | Uzbek |
The following organs exist:
Activities of ECO are conducted through Directorates under the supervision of Secretary General and his Deputies which considered and evolve projects and programmes of mutual benefit in the fields of:
The Economic Cooperation Organization Trade and Development Bank (the Bank) was established by the three founding members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in 2005; Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. Its subscribed capital is 300 million SDR, which is to be paid by the member countries equally. For the first five years starting from November 2006, the first President of the Bank is from Turkey (Mr. Murat Ulus) and the position of the President will pass to other member countries on a four-year rotation basis after the first five years. The headquarters of the Bank is in Istanbul, Turkey.
The mission of the ECO Trade & Development Bank is to initiate, promote and provide financial facilities to expand intra-regional trade and to promote the economic development of ECO member countries.
ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) is affiliated with ECO and aims at fostering understanding and the preservation of the rich cultural heritage of its members through common projects in the field of the media, literature, art, philosophy, sport and education.
ECI's Charter was signed on 15 March 1995 in Islamabad, Pakistan.
All the ECO states are also member-states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), while ECO itself has observer status in the OIC since 1995.
| # | Name | Nat | Period |
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| 1 | Alireza Salari | 1988 - 1992 | |
| 2 | Shamshad Ahmad | 1992 - 1996 | |
| 3 | Onder Ozar | 1996 - 2000 | |
| 4 | Abdolrahim Gavahi | August 2000 - July 2002 | |
| 5 | Seyed Mojtaba Arastou | July 2002 - August 2003 | |
| 6 | Bekzhassar Narbayev | August 2003 - January 2004 | |
| 7 | Askhat Orazbay | January 2004 - August 2006 | |
| 8 | Khurshid Anwar | August 2006 - August 2009 | |
| 9 | Yahya Maroofi | August 2009 - August 2012 |
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