_BIOGRAPHY He is a seasoned diplomat from Tajikistan with extensive experience in international relations and regional cooperation, having served in various diplomatic roles. Noziri leads ECO's initiatives to enhance economic and technical collaboration among member states.

THE ECONOMIC COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (ECO) IS A REGIONAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION INVOLVING COUNTRIES FROM EUROPE, CAUCASIA, CENTRAL ASIA, AND SOUTH ASIA. FOUNDED IN 1985, ECO AIMS TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC, TECHNICAL, AND CULTURAL COOPERATION AMONG MEMBER STATES, ENHANCING REGIONAL TRADE, INVESTMENT, AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES TO FOSTER ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INTEGRATION.

VISION 2025

The emerging economic and political challenges in the world brought about extensive hardship that impedes national, regional and global progress. Despite such hardships and external challenges, the Economic Cooperation Organization remains determined for fulfilling its plan to foster regional economic cooperation in its priority areas for the common interest of the region. During the 16th ECO Summit held in November last year in Tashkent, we were particularly energized by strong participation, ownership and support of our Heads of State and Government.

I may confidently note that our leadership has validated ECO's role as a relevant and useful forum to discuss regional matters. They have also recommended some very important new initiatives for ECO to develop new projects and programs for tackling with the emerging challenges in the region. As we prepare to develop and implement our projects and programs with a renewed and refreshed commitment, the valuable work produced by the RPC will guide our annual Work Program throughout 2024. Further, I may recall that the basic strategy document of ECO, namely the Vision 2025 is approaching its target year. As such, this year we will need to evaluate and assess the Organization's achievements against the aims and objectives set in the Vision through final review process, and we also will be engaging in preparation of a new strategy document which will set new objectives for the Organization beyond 2025.

Our region comprises more than half a billion people, covering about 6.6 percent of the global population. The region’s contribution to world trade crossed $1 trillion mark in 2022 for the first time and reached 1 trillion $138 billion, contributing around 4.1 percent to the total global trade. On the other hand, the ECO region has recorded a trade deficit of $89 billion, which shows that the region's exports are far below their true potential.

INTRA-REGIONAL TRADE

Our intra-regional trade increased to $96 billion in 2022, which is still only 9.1 percent of the region's total trade with the rest of the world. These figures respectively were at $76 billion and 8.2 percent in the previous year. Moreover, the inflow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to the ECO countries has shown a 20 percent increase in 2022, reaching $25.7 billion against $21.4 billion in 2021. We look forward to the continued support of our member countries for the smooth and expedited materialization of our trade expansion and trade facilitation efforts in 2024 under the Chairmanship of Iran which has introduced a quite relevant theme for this year that is “Enhanced and Resilient ECO Region through Expansion of Intra-Regional Trade”.

Based on the recommendations of 33rd RPC as well as in line with our conceptual theme for 2023 “Year of Green Transition and Interconnectivity” , we continue to focus on regional connectivity through digital modes of transportation. To this end, the Third ECO Ministerial Meeting on ICT, held in July 2023, supported our efforts for digital connectivity in the region. Furthermore, the 12th Transport Ministerial Meeting in November and the 10th Meeting of the Transit Transport Coordination Council appeared to be very productive for enhancing regional connectivity cooperation.

Our main focus is to develop and expand various corridors, such as Trans-Caspian and Almaty-Tehran-Istanbul Corridors, ensure the extension of Islamabad- Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) Rail Corridor to Bulgaria which is our debut initiative to link South Asia with Europe through railways. Another important aspect of ECO’s connectivity approach is to support our landlocked countries by improving their intra-regional and inter-regional linkages. In this regard, designation of Gabala and Samarkand Airports as ECO Air Hubs during the 12th Ministerial Meeting on Transport has been a major achievement. To achieve all such ends, we maintain strong collaboration with our global partners, especially the UN Agencies. Particularly, the cooperation between ECO and UNECE on Trans-Caspian and Almaty-Tehran-Istanbul Corridors continued effectively with three Committee Meetings in 2023. We further organized in September the First High-Level Working Group Meeting on the newly proposed Tajikistan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey Multimodal Corridor in Dushanbe. Our efforts for increased regional connectivity are persistent and will remain continued in the pursuit of greater integration of our peoples and the region.

ENERGY

The energy sector also occupies central position in our regional cooperation agenda. An effective implementation of the ECO Energy Strategy and its Action Plan 2030 primarily depends on the resolve of ECO Member States. This Strategy is to mainstream sustainable energy transition across the ECO Region. In this vein, the joint ECO-UNIDO Project on establishment of ECO Clean Energy Center (CECECO) in Baku is our flagship project. The key objective of this project is to create an enabling environment for renewable energy and energy efficiency markets and investments. In 2023, the Charter of CECECO was signed by the host country - Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the Republic of Turkey. Meanwhile, an Interim Director was appointed by Azerbaijan to facilitate the affairs of the Center.

To ensure full operationalization of the Center, three Member States are required to sign and ratify its Charter. Availing this opportunity, I once again encourage all Member States to expedite their internal processes for signing/ratifying the Charter of the Center. In the energy sector, another ECO flagship project is the Regional Electricity Market (ECO-REM). This project aims at mobilizing energy resources, opening a regional umbrella for an associated power trade, leading to enhanced investments, advanced and integrated electricity market in the region. We are collaborating with the Energy Charter and UNESCAP for its early launching. This year, we may organize the next Energy Ministerial and the Experts Group Meetings, especially to expedite the materialization of this important project.

In environment, we adhere to the global principles and policies. The 16th ECO Summit highlighted the importance of our transition to low-carbon development and adaptation to climate change. As such, the proclamation of 2023 as the year of “Green Transition and Interconnectivity” by Azerbaijan reflected ECO’s devotion to environmental cooperation, and in this context, the ECO Council of Ministers approved in January 2023 the establishment of a High-Level Dialogue Platform on Environmental Cooperation with the participation of international scientists and experts. The Republic of Uzbekistan as the initiator of this Platform announced its readiness to host its first meeting, as well as the Sixth ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment in Samarkand this year. We hope this new Platform could further pave the way for knowledge sharing, policy coordination, capacity-building, and leveraging finance for environment.

TOURISM

Tourism cooperation is a pivotal sector on our agenda. Despite some challenges, more than 70 million tourists visited the ECO region in 2022. Turkey (50.4 million), Uzbekistan (5.2 million), Kazakhstan (4.7 million) and Iran (4.1 million) were the leading ECO Member States. Yet, considering our region's abundant natural, historical and cultural treasures, we believe that the current outlook of tourism is far away from its true potential. Now we are set to declare the Uzbekistan’s city of Shahrisabz as the ECO Tourism Capital for 2024.

Under the patronage of His Excellency President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan has embarked on an ambitious project to develop its tourism sector. With significant investments in modernizing accommodations, transportation and enriching the tourist experience, Turkmenistan is poised for a surge in visitor numbers and an increase in service excellence. This forward-thinking approach heralds a new era for Turkmenistan's tourism appeal. Moreover, Turkmenistan's nomination of Merv as the ECO Tourism Capital for 2027 highlights the country’s dedication to preserving and showcasing the cultural legacy of this historic Silk Road city. Merv is a kind of "beacon" of the region's rich history and serves as a source of inspiration.

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Edited from speech at Plenary Session of the 34th RPC Meeting on January 25, 2024, in Tehran.