ECO ministerial meeting begins in Iran

The 21st Meeting of the Council of Ministers (COM) of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has kicked off in Iran’s capital, Tehran.

The two-day meeting began in Tehran on Tuesday with the presence of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

During the meeting, Iran took over the chairmanship of the ECO Council of Ministers from Azerbaijan Republic.

ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states.

The organization was expanded in 1992 to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

ECO provides its members with a platform to discuss ways of improving economic development, and promoting trade and investment opportunities.