Fwd: [bangla-vision] Rifah Proposes Union of ECO States - Vital Statistics

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Habib Yousafzai <yousafzai49@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 18, 2011 at 1:17 PM
Subject: [bangla-vision] Rifah Proposes Union of ECO States - Vital Statistics

 

Rifah Proposes Union of ECO States - Vital Statistics  Brig. (Retd) Usman Khalid

 

Tuesday, 17 May 2011 20:33

ECO is an intergovernmental organization involving seven Asian and three Eurasian nations to promote trade and investment opportunities. The ECO is an ad hoc organization under the United Nations Charter (Chap. VIII). 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 population is 416,046,863, a third more than that of the USA, and the area is 8,620,697 km² almost equal to that of China as well as the USA. History and role 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 1964, 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 lack appropriate infrastructure and institutions which the Organization is primarily seeking to develop, to make full use of available resources in the region for sustainable development for the member nations.

The Economic Cooperation Organisation Trade Agreement (ECOTA) was signed on 17 July 2003 in Islamabad. ECO Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) is a new organization for trade promotion among member states located in Iran (2009).

Member states

Official name	Capital	Area (km²)	Population (2010)	Density (per km²)	GDP (2010)(nominal)[4]	GDP (2010) (per capita)[5]	Currency	Official languages
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan	Kabul	647,500	29,662,000	46	$16,968 million	$572	Afghani	Dari, Pashto
Republic of Azerbaijan	Baku	86,600	9,040,000	104	$51,787 million	$5,728	Manat	Azerbaijani
Islamic Republic of Iran	Tehran	1,648,195	75,350,000	46	$359,970 million	$4,777	Rial	Persian
Republic of Kazakhstan	Astana	2,724,900	15,584,000	6	$126,346 million	$8,107	Tenge	Kazakh
Kyrgyz Republic	Bishkek	199,900	5,444,000	27	$5,122 million	$940	Som	Kyrgyz, Russian
Islamic Republic of Pakistan	Islamabad	803,940	166,578,000	207	$177,901 million	$1,068	Rupee	Urdu, English
Republic of Tajikistan	Dushanbe	143,100	6,536,000	46	$5,499 million	$841	Somoni	Tajik
Republic of Turkey	Ankara	783,562	71,428,000	91	$710,737 million	$9,950	Lira	Turkish
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	488,100	5,439,000	11	$20,232 million	$3,720	Manat	Turkmen
Republic of Uzbekistan	Tashkent	447,400	28,246,000	63	$37,290 million	$1,320	Som	Uzbek

Objectives

• Sustainable economic development of Member States;
• Progressive removal of trade barriers and promotion of intra- regional trade; Greater role of ECO region in the growth of world trade; Gradual integration of the economies of the Member States with the world economy;
• Development of transport & communications infrastructure linking the Member States with each other and with the outside world;
• Economic liberalization and privatization;
• Mobilization and utilization of ECO region's material resources;
• Effective utilization of the agricultural and industrial potentials of ECO region;
• Regional cooperation for drug abuse control, ecological and environmental protection and strengthening of historical and cultural ties among the peoples of the ECO region;
• Mutually beneficial cooperation with regional and international organizations.

Principles of cooperation

• Sovereign equality of the Member States and mutual advantage;
• Linking of national economic, development plans with ECO's immediate and long-term objectives to the extent possible;
• Joint efforts to gain freer access to markets outside the ECO region for the raw materials and finished products of the Member States;
• Effective utilization of ECO institutions, agreements and cooperative arrangements with other regional and international organizations including multilateral financial institutions;
• Common endeavors to develop a harmonized approach for participation in regional and global arrangements;
• Realization of economic cooperation strategy; and Exchanges in educational, scientific, technical and cultural fields

Organization structure

• The Council of Ministers ( COM ) is the highest policy and decision-making body and is composed of Ministers of Foreign Affairs or such other representatives of the Ministerial rank as may be designated by the Government. The council of Ministers meets at least once a year by rotation among the Member States.

• The Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR) is consisting of the Permanent Representatives/Ambassadors of the Member States accredited to the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as to the ECO and the Director General for ECO Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

• The Regional Planning Council (RPC) is composed of the Head of the Planning Organization of the Member States or such other representatives of corresponding authorities.

• The General Secretariat consists of six Directorates under the supervision of the Secretary General and his Deputies. Two Specialized Agencies and six Regional Institutes are acting under the supervision of the General Secretariat.
• Directorate of Industry & Agriculture
• Directorate of Trade & Investment
• Directorate of Energy, Minerals & Environment
• Directorate of Transport and Communications
• Directorate of Economic Research & Statistics
• Directorate of Project Research

Secretary Generals # Name Nat Period 1 Alireza Salari 1988 - 1992 2 Shamshad Ahmad 1992 - 1996 3 Onder Ozar 1996 - 2000 4 Abdolrahim Gavahi August 2000 - July 2002 5 Seyed Mojtaba Arastou July 2002 - August 2003 6 Bekzhassar Narbayev August 2003 - January 2004 7 Askhat Orazbay January 2004 - August 2006 8 Khurshid Anwar August 2006 - August 2009 9 Yahya Maroofi August 2009 - August 2012 ECO Trade and Development Bank was established by the three founding members of the ECO in 2005; Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. Its subscribed capital is 300 million SDR, which is to be paid by the member countries equally. The mission of the ECO Trade & Development Bank is to initiate, promote and provide financial facilities to expand intra-regional trade and to promote the economic development of ECO member countries. For the first five years starting from November 2006, the President of the Bank is from Turkey (Mr. Murat Ulus) and the position of the President will pass to other member countries on a four-year rotation. The HQ of the Bank is in Istanbul, Turkey. ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) is affiliated with ECO and aims at fostering understanding and the preservation of the rich cultural heritage of its members through common projects in the field of the media, literature, art, philosophy, sport and education. ECI's Charter was signed on 15 March 1995 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

·          

__._,_.___

--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/