TEHRAN – The Secretary-General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) visited the Tehran Times on Tuesday for discussions with the CEO and Editor-in-Chief. 

He later spoke with a correspondent about his first six months in office and his vision for the 10-member organization.

Ambassador Assad Majid Khan stated that his interactions with regional leaders have revealed a renewed willingness to invest in ECO and leverage its potential, driven by the changing geopolitical landscape.

Below is the full text of the interview: 

This is your first interview with an Iranian publication. What are your impressions of Iran so far during your time here?

First of all, thank you for hosting me at Tehran Times. It's an honor to be here, and indeed my first visit to any media outlet in Iran. As someone from Pakistan, a close and brotherly neighbor, I feel a deep connection to Iran. We share a long border, a rich shared history, culture, and economic ties. For me, being here is about renewing and reviving those vital connections.
 
In some ways, given the similarities between Persian and Urdu, it's also a journey of self-discovery. I'm learning so much from Iran's rich culture, great history, and incredibly hospitable people. I'm truly enjoying my time here and look forward to continued learning and exploration during my stay.

You were appointed Secretary-General of ECO after a distinguished career as a diplomat, including ambassadorships in multiple regions. How do you believe your extensive diplomatic experience will benefit you in this role?

My diplomatic experience is invaluable in this role. As Secretary-General, I am the face of ECO and the leader of an organization striving to reach its full potential. My experience enables me to effectively engage member states, build consensus, and drive progress.

My background includes serving as ambassador in Washington, Brussels (to the EU), and Japan, as well as working at the UN (on system-wide coherence and as Coordinator for the Group of 77). These experiences have equipped me with the skills necessary to address the challenges facing ECO.

Creating connectivity infrastructure, especially roads, is a key step for ECO states to further boost tradeWhile my experience in West Asia is limited, I view this role as more than a job—it's a mission. I believe our region must look inward, focusing on our commonalities. All neighbors have issues; however, we can create strong stakes through trade and people-to-people connections. I accepted this opportunity with excitement and a commitment to giving my best.

I am fortunate to have strong support and cooperation. The fact that we've started this year with five ministerial meetings locked is historic. Holding Deputy Minister-level meetings is also a record for the ECO. My passion and commitment are being reciprocated. While political will may have always existed, my role is to address the bureaucratic inertia and facilitate progress. I am focused on that.

As Secretary-General of ECO for the past six months, what do you consider the organization's most significant achievements during your tenure so far?

In my first six months as Secretary-General of ECO, my focus has been on addressing the deficit of political attention and strengthening implementation of existing agreements. While six months is a short time, we've made progress in two key areas. First is strategic vision and planning. 

Recognizing that 2025 marks the end of ECO's current "Vision 2025," we convened a high-level committee of Deputy Ministers to begin formulating a new, ten-year vision for the organization. This initial discussion will inform a revised strategic direction, focusing on enhanced cooperation and addressing structural reforms needed to achieve our goals. This involves critically evaluating how we recruit personnel and improve organizational efficiency.

Our second focus has been ministerial engagement and leadership buy-in. We've actively worked to increase ministerial engagement. Highlights include the successful ministerial meeting in Mashhad under Iran's chairmanship, a landmark event for being held outside the traditional capital. Building on this momentum, we've scheduled a series of crucial ministerial meetings – Tourism, Transport, Finance, and Trade – culminating in the 17th Summit in Azerbaijan on July 3rd and 4th. This summit aims to secure high-level political commitment, and address the historical lack of leadership attention to ECO's objectives.

These initial steps lay the groundwork for ECO to more effectively leverage its members' overlapping history, culture, economies, geography, and shared values to achieve its full potential. My commitment is to consolidate efforts, focus on tangible implementation and impactful outcomes, and move beyond simply organizing meetings.

You mentioned a 'political deficit' hindering ECO's full potential. Could you elaborate on this? Is it primarily due to bilateral issues between member states, a lack of seriousness in prioritizing ECO, or a failure to fully recognize its potential?

The political deficit stems from a combination of factors, but I'm focused on the future. In recent interactions with leaders in Iran and other key member states, I see a newfound willingness to prioritize regional solutions and integration. This is driven by growing concerns about the weaponization of financial systems, increasing unilateralism, and escalating trade wars. There's a realization that regional trade, particularly with neighboring countries, benefits all our economies.

This shift in geopolitics is conducive to securing the attention ECO previously lacked. While our member states share a long history and cultural ties, we also have diverse economies. Some were formerly part of the Soviet Union, with mixed economies and limited WTO integration. Others are more closely aligned with European or Arab systems. Sanctions have further hindered smooth regional integration.

Now, with the increased use of these measures, the region is ready to look inwards. And I believe the leadership in Iran is particularly committed to promoting and further developing ECO.

Do leaders in other ECO countries also recognize this need for greater regional cooperation?

Yes, based on my discussions with leadership in Turkey and Pakistan, and given they are founding members along with Iran, I can affirm a newfound readiness and willingness across the ECO region. It's now our responsibility to create the conditions for ECO to reach its potential.

But Iran in particular, has a critical role as the host country and champion of ECO. Given Iran's good neighbor policy and the fact that five of its seven land neighbors are ECO members, ECO is an ideal vehicle to realize the economic component of this strategy. This includes fostering trade integration, transport connectivity (multimodal connectivity), energy cooperation, food security through agricultural cooperation, and industrial cooperation.

While the entire region needs this cooperation, ECO can be particularly valuable for Iran in advancing its existing good neighbor policy. Examples such as the Sarakhs border zone, mirroring the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan model, demonstrate the potential to facilitate trade, even addressing challenges with financial transactions.

Beyond securing political commitments, what specific, concrete plans does ECO have for growth and development, particularly concerning investment, bilateral trade, and multilateral trade?

ECO's overarching priority is operationalizing and implementing the ECO Trade Agreement to promote trade integration. This has been a challenge, but we are hopeful that the trade ministers' meeting in Istanbul on June 25th, after a 14-year hiatus, will finally yield the expected results.

Secondly, we're focused on creating connectivity infrastructure. This requires roads, which in turn require financing. We need our finance ministers to sign on, and we need to attract international financial institutions. Our own ECO Development Bank (ECO DB) needs more financing from our members and more members to join. Unless we can facilitate business transactions and attract financing for infrastructure projects, we cannot execute our agenda.

Therefore, we're working with members to encourage ECO DB membership and expand its capital base to attract international finance and support key projects. We're also actively trying to create financial mechanisms to facilitate safe business transactions without the fear of sanctions.

By Mona Hojat Ansari