TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) has expressed the country’s interest in an effective presence in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), IRIB reported on Sunday.

“Considering the diversity of ESCAP’s technical committees, Iran is interested in playing an effective role in all these committees,” Davoud Manzour said in a meeting with ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.

According to Manzour, the Islamic Republic of Iran is interested in using the capacities of ESCAP in the development of its international activities in various areas including transit and foreign trade, environment and sustainable development, foreign investment, and reducing the risks of natural disasters.

The PBO head stated that Iran needs to develop international cooperation for better implementation of its development programs, especially the seventh National Development Plan (2022-2026), adding: “One of the axes of the seventh National Development Plan is the development of transit and transportation opportunities in the country and in this regard, a program for the development of the North-South and East-West corridors is underway, and the government's goal is to increase the country's transit volume to three times the current amount.”

To this end, the ESCAP Transport Committee can provide the Islamic Republic with good opportunities to implement the mentioned program, especially in interaction with neighbors such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, Manzour said.

He further expressed Iran’s interest in continuous attendance at the ESCAP transport committee meetings and said: “As for the environment and sustainable development, considering the existence of issues such as dust, land subsidence, water shortage and air pollution in the country's big cities, we are interested in benefiting from the successful experiences of ESCAP member countries in managing such issues.”

Alisjahbana for her part noted that ESCAP needs technical cooperation at the international level to face natural and climate problems, saying: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has high scientific and expert capabilities and capacities in the field of dealing with dust, which can be used in global conferences.”

EF/MA

Photo: Iran’s PBO Head Davoud Manzour (R) meets with ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana in Tehran on Sunday.