ISLAMABAD: Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Secretary General, Halil Ibrahim said a lot of developmental work is in progress in the region.
Secretary General Halil Ibrahim congratulated Prime Minister Nawaz on his election as Chairman of the Summit and hoped that under his able leadership, the ECO will make further progress.
He said the Summit is of prime importance for ECO to review its performance and for guidance for future endeavours of the Organization.
Highlighting overall profile of the ECO, Halil Ibrahim said the population of ECO region has reached 471 million and its GDP has cross one trillion dollars.
He said intra-trade of the region has improved to 8.7 percent in 2015 to 5.3 percent in 2000. He pointed out that ECO continues to implement programmes and plans decided by its decision making bodies. He said trade, transport and energy are the core areas being focused by the Organization.
The ECO Secretary General said special emphasis has been given to Corridors which will provide access to the ECO landlocked countries.
He said tourism has been prioritized as priority area in the ECO Vision. He said process is going on to promote tourism activities in the region. He said ECO has signed forty-five MOUs and Agreements with the UN System and other regional and international organizations in different fields.
He said ECO has also developed its external relations with other Organizations like UN and OIC.
