Tashkent, 24 January 2023 (TDI): The 26th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) commences today, 24 January 2023 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The meeting will be based on issues of bilateral relations between participating countries.

The delegation from member nations which includes, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey will be attending the meeting.

Uzbekistan is chairing the meeting. The issue of how to make good use of bilateral relations in promoting economic development will be one of the key issues to be discussed.

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It is pertinent to note that, the ECO was formed in 1985 to create a single market for foods and services among Asian countries and to promote free trade among themselves. It was structured like that of the European Union (EU).

As the organization began to grow, insecurity brought huge challenges to the organization, with Iran presently rocked by domestic and constant protests and Afghanistan with its multiple internal and external factors.

As the Council will be meeting, it will hold to its mandate as the main policy-making entity of the organization. They will find ways to approve budgets for the running of the organization this year. Also, they will discuss the selection of senior management.

Pakistan, one of the leading members of the organization will use the opportunity to meet with many of the member countries as the seeks to promote the economic development of the country.

The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov will be talking extensively about how the bloc can promote unity.

Seeking to find a long-standing end to the insecurity issues among certain member countries, especially with the issues of terrorism and the global economic crisis facing most of them.

There will also be a high-level delegation meeting to promote the interest of their countries. The Foreign Ministers of member states will also be meeting separately as there is meant to be a possible signing of an MoU among them.