By Bahattin Gonultas

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

The member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) are rich in energy resources and Turkey is ready to transfer them to international markets, the country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an ECO foreign ministers’ meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Mevlut Cavusoglu said energy was a key field upon which the organization must focus.

"Our region is rich in energy resources. Turkey is ready to transfer them to international markets," he added.

Cavusoglu said the 13th ECO Summit was being held at a crucial time. "Current political and economic challenges force us to reconsider the role of the ECO," he said.

According to the Turkish foreign minister, the organization has huge potential to become an important regional player.

However, he said member countries needed to redouble their efforts to exploit this potential.

"First of all, we need to put into force our trade agreement, ECOTA, to enhance intra-regional trade. With this understanding, I call upon all the member states to complete the necessary requirements for joining ECOTA," the minister said.

Commenting on the organization's ‘Ecobank’ -- a body to finance trade through projects -- Cavusoglu said: "We need to enhance the institutional and financing capacity of Ecobank to meet the growing needs of the region.”

The integration of regional transport systems and the effective use of transit corridors were also important, the minister said:

"Effective implementation of the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA) and completion of the outstanding projects, such as the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Road Corridor, should be the organization’s priorities.”

History

Cavusoglu said the member states had natural beauty, a rich history and diverse cultural heritage: "We can utilize them. As a leading country in the field of tourism, we are ready to share our experiences with our fellow ECO members."

Cavusoglu asked ECO members to fulfill their responsibilities on the organization’s budget:

"Unfortunately, current budgetary problems prevent us from transforming the ECO into a more efficient organization. We believe that all member countries should fulfill their responsibility in terms of burden-sharing. This is also important for strengthening the ownership of our organization.”

“Since our resources are limited, our efforts in the ECO should be more focused, realistic and efficient. We should define and concentrate on priority areas such as trade and investment," he added.

At the same meeting, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the ECO should invest more time and energy for implementation of the organization's vision for 2025.

"The members want to see the organization focus on projects and programs which bring about maximum economic benefits to members and the region," Zarif said.

Zarif added that the ECO would play a greater role in future.

The head of Pakistan's foreign affairs ministry Sartaj Aziz said that a lack of regional connectivity was a major impediment to economic cooperation.

Aziz said joint efforts were needed to transform the ECO into a formidable economic bloc through full exploitation of its resources.

Population of 471 million

ECO secretary general, Turkey’s Halil Ibrahim Akca, said the population of the 10-nation bloc had reached 471 million.

Akca said intra-regional trade had also increased to 8.3 percent last year from 5.3 percent in 2000.

The ECO was founded by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in 1985. In 1992, the organization expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

On Tuesday, the foreign ministers from the member states are expected to approve an Islamabad Declaration which aims to build more corporation on connectivity, trade, transport and energy.

The ECO Vision 2025 document will be adopted at a summit being held on Wednesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the summit.