Tashkent ECO Summit: a new basis for developing common approaches to solving issues relevant to the vast region

For the first time in history, the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization will be held in the capital of Uzbekistan

The summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) will be held in Tashkent on November 8-9. 
Our country has been a member of the organization since November 1992, but a multilateral summit within the framework of the ECO is being held on Uzbek soil for the first time in the history of independent Uzbekistan and this association.
The Economic Cooperation Organization is a regional interstate organization founded in 1985 in Tehran (Iran). 
The goals and objectives of the ECO - the development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation and regional cooperation in the transport and communication sphere fully meet the interests of our republic.
Currently, the ECO members are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. 
Since 1995, ECO has had observer status in the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Coordination and monitoring of ECO activities is carried out by the Secretary General of the organization, who is elected and appointed by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of ECO member States for a period of three years.
In 2022, Uzbekistan chaired the ECO for the first time. Speaking at the 15th ECO Summit in Ashgabat on November 28, 2021, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward proposals for cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, transport and the "green" economy. "We need to make more full use of the significant potential of our countries, which have a huge market with a population of over 500 million people, in the areas of trade and investment," the head of our state stressed at the summit. Accepting the chairmanship, the President stated that Uzbekistan stands for the development of comprehensive relations within the ECO.
Our country considers ECO as a platform for discussing ways to improve the development and promotion of trade and investment opportunities in South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Within the framework of the ECO, Uzbekistan stands for the creation of interregional transit hubs, the development of modern transport and road infrastructure, the optimization of transport and transit tariffs, simplification of conditions for international freight and passenger transportation and the introduction of digitalization in the transport industry.
In addition, at the summit in Ashgabat, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward an initiative on the active joint development of the "green" economy, the widespread introduction of resource-saving technologies in industrial sectors, and the achievement of carbon neutrality.
Uzbekistan also supports joining efforts to develop common approaches and provide the necessary assistance to Afghanistan. In this regard, the head of our state took the initiative to consistently continue the implementation of major trade, transport and energy projects of regional importance with Afghanistan in order to promote the economy of this country and support its people.
Today, the ECO countries are the largest trading partners of Uzbekistan. By the end of 2022, the trade turnover between Uzbekistan and the ECO countries amounted to 12.3 billion US dollars, and in January-July 2023 - 5.8 billion dollars.
Since May 2018, there has been an intensification of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the ECO. In particular, since 2018, Uzbekistan has been visited by the General Secretaries of the ECO Khalil Akcha, Hadi Soleimanpour, Khusrav Noziri, as well as Deputy Secretary General Hussein Bichakli.
Along with this, the participation of the Uzbek side in international events held under the auspices of the ECO has significantly intensified. 
Official delegations of Uzbekistan take part in meetings of prosecutors General, heads of maritime organizations, ministers of Transport, Tourism and Agriculture, as well as meetings of the ECO expert group on minerals and heads of veterinary organizations of ECO member countries.
In connection with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, many events were held in an online format, including a virtual meeting of ECO member countries, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the international energy advisory company "ECOLONER" to discuss the project of creating an ECO Clean Energy Center, a virtual ECO conference "Prospects and Challenges of regional electricity markets: Using trade and investment opportunities", the first virtual meeting of the Working Group on Civil Aviation (November), Virtual regional seminar of ECO member countries on geographical indications (November).
Following the results of the virtual meeting of the Ministers of Transport of the ECO member countries in December 2020, the initiative of Uzbekistan to include the road and rail transport corridors "Central Asia - Afghanistan – Pakistan", "Central Asia – Afghanistan – Iran", "Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran" in the transport arteries of the ECO region was supported by all member countries organizations and included in the final Declaration. 
In January 2021, the first meeting of the heads of the special economic zones of the ECO member countries and the 31st meeting of the Regional Planning Council were held.
At the next meeting of the ECO Regional Planning Council chaired by Uzbekistan on January 17-26, 2022, on the initiative of our country, 2022 was declared the "Year of Strengthening Interconnection".
It should be noted that during the period of Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the ECO, more than 25 events were held. 
Thus, on July 5-6, 2022, the 7th meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the ECO countries was held in Tashkent. The Secretary General of the organization Khusrav Noziri also participated in this event.
On December 13, 2022, the fourth meeting of the Ministers of Tourism of the ECO states was held in an online format, during which Shakhrisabz was chosen as the ECO tourist capital in 2024.
On December 5, 2022, the President of Uzbekistan signed the law "On ratification of the Izmir Treaty", strengthening the legal basis for full membership in the Economic Cooperation Organization, as well as expanding opportunities for comprehensive cooperation with the organization's member states.
On January 24, 2023, the 26th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) was held in Tashkent ECO, which was attended for the first time by the foreign Ministers of all member countries of the organization. As a result, the Tashkent communique was adopted. On the same day, the President of Uzbekistan received the ECO Secretary General. 
It is also worth noting that ECO Secretary General Khusrav Noziri participated as an international observer in the presidential elections in October 2021, as well as in the Constitutional Referendum held in Uzbekistan on April 30 this year.
There is no doubt that holding the next summit of the organization in Tashkent will give a new impetus to Uzbekistan's interaction with the ECO member countries, create a new basis for developing common approaches to solving issues relevant to the unification and determine the organization's further key priorities for the development and strengthening of regional economic cooperation for the benefit of all peoples inhabiting the vast space of the ECO.