The delegation of Turkmenistan headed by Deputy Foreign Minister A. Gurbanov took part in the 28th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO CFM), which was held on December 3 in the city of Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the participants of the meeting discussed a wide range of issues of strengthening regional cooperation in the field of trade, investment, green economy, digitalization, energy, food security, ecology, agriculture and transport.
In his speech, A. Gurbanov emphasized that the conceptual documents “ECO Vision until 2025” and “Ashgabat Consensus for Action” created a solid platform for adaptation to new realities, outlined clear guidelines for joint activities in the near future. In this regard, the position of Turkmenistan on priority areas of cooperation within the ECO, as well as proposals for the ECO development strategy, were presented.
In particular, the importance of developing cooperation in the field of transport and logistics, as well as in the energy sector was noted. The acceptability of expanding industrial cooperation by creating production lines, using the potential of border and regional trade with an emphasis on enhancing partnership in the field of small and medium-sized businesses was voiced. The importance of combining efforts to ensure food security, as well as combining the efforts of the ECO and the international community to develop constructive models of interstate relations was highlighted.
The meeting participants also considered proposals for the further development of trade and economic ties, including the search for new paths to economic growth in the ECO space.
The Council's work program was approved, reports on the activities of the Secretariat and specialized bodies of the ECO were adopted, the budget for 2025 was approved, and the results of Iran’s chairmanship of the ECO were summed up.
The chairmanship in 2025 passed to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Following the meeting, the Mashhad Communiqué was adopted, which outlined strategic initiatives and practical steps to strengthen multifaceted regional cooperation.
