The
Economic Cooperation Organization (
ECO) is an intergovernmental
international organization involving ten
Asian nations. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities. The nations involved are
Afghanistan,
Azerbaijan,
Iran,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Pakistan,
Tajikistan,
Turkey,
Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan. 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 area is 8,620,697 km
2.
Economic Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states. It was the successor organisation of what was the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), founded in 1962, which ended activities in 1979. In the fall of 1992, the ECO expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The status and power of the ECO is growing. However, the organization faces many challenges. Most importantly, the member states are lacking appropriate infrastructure and institutions which the Organization is primarily seeking to develop, to make full use of the available resources in the region and provide sustainable development for the member nations.
The Economic Cooperation Organisation Trade Agreement (ECOTA) was signed on 17 July 2003 in Islamabad.[1]
