Iran ready to boost energy, transit cooperation with ESCAP: Salehi

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has voiced the country’s readiness to boost cooperation with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in the energy and transit sectors.

“Considering its high potential in the fields of energy, transit, railroads and ports, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to increase cooperation with ESCAP to [help the body] develop and achieve its objectives in the region and Asia,” Salehi said in a meeting with Executive Secretary of ESCAP Noeleen Heyzer on Sunday.

The Iranian foreign minister further urged ESCAP to pay greater attention to geographical regions such as Southwest Asia.

Heyzer, for her part, pointed to ESCAP’s significant role in promoting economic and social activities as well as improving the living conditions of the member countries.

Heyzer is in Tehran to attend the Third Ministerial Conference of the ESCAP.

Meanwhile, Behrouz Alishiri, head of Iran’s Organization for Investment and Economic and Technical Assistance said Iran’s infrastructural plans including the construction of dams, power plants, airports and transportation systems will be presented to potential investors during the ESCAP conference.

Ministers and senior officials from 62 member governments are attending the conference that kicked off on Sunday with a High-level Expert Group Meeting. A Business forum is scheduled for November 13 and the Third Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Public-Private Partnership for Infrastructure Development is set to be held on November 14.

ESCAP was established in 1974 to help overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges by providing results-oriented projects, technical assistance and capacity building to its member states.