LAHORE (The News) -- Amid rapidly changing geo-political situation, Pakistan is up for taking practical measures aimed at enhancing trade and industrial links among member countries of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a regional forum of 10 Asian nations.

“It is time to implement decisions being taken by ECO states for enhancing collaboration in various fields of economy among regional countries,” said Jehangir Khan Tareen, Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, who was speaking at the inaugural session of 3rd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Industry here on Thursday.

Secretary General ECO Khurshid Anwar, Afghan Industries Minister Dr Meer Muhammad Ameen Farhang, Iranian Minister Alireza Tahmasebi, Turkish Industries Minister Ali Coskun, Kazakh Deputy Minister Meyram Kazhiken, Kyrgyz Deputy Minister Moldokulov Sabyrbek, Tajik Industries Minister Saidov Zaid, Uzbek Ambassador to Pakistan Oybek Usmanov and other senior officials of ECO member countries were present on the occasion.

The ECO comprises 10 countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Six out of 10 countries, including Afghanistan and central Asian states, are blessed with natural resources while three other countries, i.e. Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, are relatively progressing ahead in various fields of technology and commerce.

ECO, a successor of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), was formed in 1985 with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan as members, but its membership was later extended to seven other countries. Jehangir Tareen was of the view that increased cooperation could pave the way for economic uplift of respective ECO countries, which would strengthen political stability. “An economically self-sufficient country only can ensure its political independence.”

He said ECO must go ahead in getting all the work done for reinforcing trade routes besides fortifying cooperation in industrial and technological fields. Saying goodbye to Anglo-U.S. centric approaches, he observed, “we must focus on reviving historic links between south, south west, central and west Asian countries, which forms a potential economic bloc.”

The minister for industries said an ideal win-win situation for all member nations could be an outcome of enhanced regional cooperation, keeping in view enormous trade potential that existed in the area. He added transformation of ECO into a dynamic economic bloc was the ultimate step required in that regard.

As an initiative, he announced he would carry out a whirlwind visit of all ECO states next year with a view to jumpstarting efforts for greater cooperation in trade and industry in order to cope with increasing competition in international markets.

He said establishment of ECO was a belated step as several regional blocs had already been set up in various parts of the globe in order to enhance trade links.

“There is no international pressure against strengthening such regional alliances,” he said, adding intra-region trade links would yield positive effects for the people of ECO nations. “We not only have to keep ourselves abreast with the rest of the world but also operate in collaboration with friendly and brotherly ECO countries,” he maintained.

Stressing the need of policy liberalization in industrial sector through rationalizing regulatory framework, Tareen said ECO member countries should concentrate on areas of comparative advantage. He said the role of private sector and importance of legal environment for protection and attraction of foreign investment in ECO economies were very important.

On the part of Pakistan, he said, national trade corridor was being established to make the country a true gateway for ECO countries, including Afghanistan and central Asian states. He said Pakistan also wanted to fully explore natural resources of member countries by employing a concentrated approach.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary General ECO, Khurshid Anwar said member states should intensify industrial cooperation to meet the challenges of global market.

“We have to sharpen our competitive edge and we must do so,” he said, adding ECO countries had to be competitive in an all-round manner, especially in areas like product prices, supply, quality, technology as well as reliability.

He said implementation of ECO Trade Agreement, ECO Trade and Development Bank, ECO Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment, ECO Transit Transport Framework Agreement and ECO Chamber of Commerce and Industry was a must to achieve desired results. “All the member states should lend their weight to help implement the agreements,” he added.

Later, the participants of the meeting adopted Lahore Declaration for Industrial Cooperation in ECO Region.

They reached consensus on establishing the headquarters of Regional Institute of Standardization, Conformity Assessment, Accreditation and Metrology in Tehran and also decided to set up its sub-groups in Turkey, Kazakhstan and Iran. Pakistan is also member of RISCAM besides Iran, Turkey and Kazakhstan.

They also decided to hold 4th ministerial meeting and 3rd HLEG meeting in Kazakhstan in 2007. The participants reiterated the directives of Tehran and Istanbul Declarations for industrial cooperation among ECO member states, which had been adopted by the ministerial meetings on industry in Tehran in January 2004 and in Istanbul in November 2005 respectively.

They also stressed the role of industry in economic and social development of ECO region and expressed the strong desire of member states for attaining more share in global industrial markets in order to cope with the challenges of competition, emphasizing the critical role of trade and transport-related ECO projects/programs in industrial cooperation.