Iranian Speaker to Review Latest Regional Developments with Pakistani Officials

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani is due to meet and confer with Pakistani officials on the latest developments in relations between the two countries as well as the regional issues during his visit to Islamabad to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO) meeting.

Larijani noted that resolution of regional problems through regional treaties is becoming a prevalent approach around the world, and added that he will confer the latest regional and international developments with Pakistani officials.

“There are good grounds for cooperation among ECO member-states in all fields, including the economic, political and technological areas,” he told reporters at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport before his departure for Islamabad on Monday.

Larijani left Tehran for Islamabad on Monday morning to take part at a conference of the PAECO.

The ECO is an intergovernmental organization involving seven Asian and three Eurasian nations, part of the South-central Asian Union. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities. The ECO is an ad hoc organization under the United Nations Charter (Chap. VIII). The common objective is to establish a single market for goods and services, much like the European Union.

ECO’s secretariat and cultural department are located in Tehran, its economic bureau is in Turkey and its scientific bureau is situated in Pakistan. The organization’s population is 416,046,863 and the area is 8,620,697 km². The organization was founded by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.

The ECO has 10 member-states at present time. Turkey, Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are member-states of ECO.