13th summit of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) successfully concludes with adoption of the Islamabad Declaration
By.asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad-The successful 13th summit of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) successfully concluded here Wednesday with adoption of the Islamabad Declaration. The Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his concluding remarks said Pakistan being founding member of the ECO was committed to progress through regional integration. He said the summit provided the opportunity for discussing areas of cooperation among the member’s countries for the benefit of their population. The next ECO summit will be held with mutual consensus of the member’s countries and will be communicated through the ECO Secretary General. Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said the member countries of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) were determined to realize the vision of making the region a zone of peace and prosperity. “Collectively, we have committed ourselves to working together for bringing progressive change to the lives of the half of billion people in our region, transforming it into a bastion of peace, progress and prosperity,” the Prime Minister said in a joint stakeout with ECO Secretary General Halil Ibrahim Akca at the conclusion of the summit. He said the ECO states were also determined to collectively face the challenges of extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking for a peaceful region.PM.Nawaz Sharif said the ECO region straddled the center of Eurasian land mass and its geography made it indispensable for East-West connectivity. This region, he said, had always been a route for exchange of cultures and ideas. He said the participating leaders of the summit had directed the ECO governing bodies to build and promote multi-dimensional connectivity in keeping with the summit’s theme ‘connectivity for regional prosperity’. He said the collective political will of the ECO states had been unambiguously reflected in the Islamabad Declaration adopted by the summit. The declaration, he said, underlined the importance of fully exploiting the economic complementarities of member states, simultaneously strengthening their historic and civilizational bonds and to act as the bedrock for regional integration. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said energy sufficiency was indispensable for implementing any plan for economic development. He emphasized on the need for regional cooperation in the energy sector focusing on efficiency, related infrastructure development and intra-regional energy trade. This would help provide cheap affordable energy for the benefit of people, he added. The Prime Minister said the ECO, at its heart, was about the people and focused on people-to-people contacts as well as to revive and promote regional tourism. Nawaz Sharif said the ECO countries remained committed to strengthening collaboration to address common challenges such as climate change and food security. He said the ECO leaders during the summit agreed on importance of innovation to achieve excellence and emphasized on linkages between higher education and research institutions as well as partnerships in science and technologies. The Prime Minister said the ECO leaders also agreed to cooperate for the effective implementation of Agenda 2030, aimed at leaving ‘no-one left behind’. “I believe that the ECO holds tremendous potential and promise. Its steady progress in various areas of cooperation has, over time, brought its member states closer,” he said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the ECO Vision 2025 adopted at the summit was a significant achievement, which set tangible and pragmatic goals along with an implementation framework.“We shall collectively endeavor to build and promote connectivity in multiple domains, including sea, land, air and cyberspace. This will give further impetus to intra-regional trade,” he said. He said Pakistan was honored to host the summit on the occasion of silver jubilee of the expansion of SCO membership and expressed gratitude to the participating presidents, prime ministers and leaders of delegation for their participation. He mentioned that the valuable contributions of the leaders had made the event a resounding success, which held an exhaustive overview of matters of interests to the region. He said the successful holding of the summit was a manifestation of the desire and commitment of ECO member states to transform the ECO into a vibrant and leading regional bloc.“It is also a testament to Pakistan’s commitment to act as a harbinger of positive change and development in the region,” he said. Meanwhile the Foreign heads of state and government have started departing Islamabad after attending the ECO summit. The Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov left Islamabad for his country this afternoon. He was seen off at the Noor Khan Airbase by Minister of Petroleum Shahhid Khaqan Abbassi and other senior officials.The dignitary was also presented a photo album containing pictures of his visit to Pakistan. Earlier, the Tajik President Emomali Rahmon left Islamabad for Tajikistan. He was seen off by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Mayor Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz and other officials. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has left Islamabad for his country. The Ministry of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal saw him off. The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also left Islamabad for his country on Wednesday evening. He was seen off at the airport by Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch and other officials. The Iranian President was also presented an album of his photos during the visit. Earlier the Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on other day reiterated Pakistan’s strong commitment to cooperation with Turkmenistan in energy and transport infrastructure. He also underscored the need for early operationalization of TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project.The Prime Minister was talking to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who called on him here after the conclusion of the 13th ECO Summit.Pakistan has already expressed willingness to join the Lapis Lazuli corridor and the Central Asia-Middle East corridor. Both sides also agreed to enhance the bilateral trade, according to a press release issued here.The Prime Minister thanked the Turkmen President for participating in the Economic Cooperation Orgaization (ECO) Summit and making valuable contributions towards its deliberations.Congratulating the Prime Minister on the successful hosting of the Summit, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said he was pleased with the Summit’s outcome for it had identified the path for the ECO’s future progress and development.
The Prime Minister fondly recalled his very productive visit to Ashgabat in November 2016.
The two leaders discussed the progress of the decisions taken during that visit and expressed satisfaction on the implementation of those decisions.
The Turkmen President thanked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the warmth and hospitality extended to him and his delegation.
