TASHKENT, March 6. /“Dunyo” IA/. “The 14th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which was convened in accordance with Article 4 of the Izmir Treaty, is of great importance, since it provided the leaders of states with an opportunity to review the activities of the organization, evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of its programs and projects, as well as exchange views on issues of intensifying regional cooperation, taking into account the mutual interests of the parties,” said Director of the International Institute of Central Asia (IICA) Anvar Nasirov for the “Dunyo” IA.
“Given that the last high level ECO Summit was held in March 2017 in Islamabad, holding the current forum on 4 March 2021 in a virtual format was of great importance, - said the expert. - As the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, respected Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev, rightly noted in his address to the forum participants: “The topic of today's summit -“Regional economic cooperation in the period after COVID-19”- is very relevant. After all, the pandemic, which has a negative impact on the world economy, has not spared our countries either."
Based on the understanding of the importance of combining the efforts of the countries of the region in overcoming the consequences of the crisis, the Head of the Republic of Uzbekistan shared his experience regarding the main regional problems and opportunities, as well as the role of ECO in solving the set tasks.
A remarkable point was that the proposals put forward by the President of Uzbekistan are relevant not only for individual countries, but also for the organization as a whole.
It is noteworthy that the initiatives of the Leader of Uzbekistan are aimed both at solving short-term ones, such as removing trade and transport restrictions imposed by the countries of the organization during the quarantine period, restoring trade ties, the need to further strengthen investment partnerships, etc., and the following long-term tasks that are important for the countries of the region.
In this context, the proposal to expand the network of transport corridors and increase the transit potential of our regions became important both for the ECO member states and for the countries of Central Asia. Of great importance is the implementation of Tashkent's initiative to build a new Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway, designed not only to create the necessary route, but also to integrate Afghanistan into the processes.
The call of the Head of State to unite efforts to resolve the issue related to the Aral Sea region and to create specific mechanisms for regional cooperation in this direction has also become no less urgent for the region.
Significant prospects for cooperation between the countries were also outlined in the field of food security, the development of a "green economy" and financial cooperation.
It should be noted that all initiatives were supported by specific implementation mechanisms, which together with our partners in the organization ensure their full implementation and bring them to a new, more intensive and pragmatic level of interaction”.
