Tehran to Host ESCAP Conference mid November

Tehran is due to host the 3rd UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) conference from November 11-14, Secretary of the Conference Gholam Hossein Firouzfar announced on Saturday.

Holding the conference in Iran after the NAM summit while the country is under sanctions is “highly valuable”, Firouzehfar told FNA.

The ESCAP Executive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer is due to address the conference, he said.

The first ESCAP conference was held in South Korea in 2007, the next one was held in Indonesia in 2010 and the third conference is to be hosted by Iran, he said, adding that more than 62 countries will take part in the event, he noted.

ESCAP senior experts will meet on the first day of the conference, public and private delegations on the second day, missions on the third day and the ministers on the 4th day of the gathering, the secretary of the conference added.

“The meeting will provide an appropriate opportunity to introduce Iran’s economy to foreign investors and ESCAP member states for investment in Iran’s road and transportation, communications, oil, energy and water and wastewater infrastructural projects,” he noted.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region and is made up of 62 member states. It has a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the West to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the East, and from the Russian Federation in the North to New Zealand in the South.

Established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP works to overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges by providing result-oriented projects and technical assistance to member states in trade, investment, transport, social development, environment, sustainable development, information and communication technology, disaster risk reduction and statistics.