ISLAMABAD
Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek on Tuesday said that the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) countries had an historic responsibility to promote cooperation and solidarity among themselves.
Speaking at ECO Parliamentary Assembly conference in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Cemil Cicek underlined that the ECO countries had a strategic position between the East and the West, and were situated at the center of rich natural resources and energy corridors and had a dynamic structure.
ECO countries, with a population of over 400 million and a land of 8 million square kilometers, need to activate their potential and have an historic responsibility to promote solidarity and cooperation.
If the Free Trade Agreement is implemented in all ECO countries, the region's trade volume would increase by eight fold, Cicek stressed.
"The ECO Development and Trade Bank, established by Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, will make crucial contributions to the development of cooperation among member countries," Cicek noted.
Cicek called on all ECO member states to join the bank.
In his speech, Cicek drew attention to the importance of railways and highways to develop commerce between ECO member countries.
Pointing out to the importance of the private sector in ECO countries, Cicek said that the works of the ECO Chamber of Commerce and Industry were important to support the private sector.
