President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Thursday countries members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to strengthen the cooperation potential by enhancing trade, tourism and energy ties and further elevating business volume through mechanisms established.
Addressing the 16th ECO summit held in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, he thanked the host president, Shavket Mirziyoyev, who took over the term presidency, for his hospitality and said: "I hope that our summit and the consultations we will hold will be beneficial for the stability and prosperity of our countries and region."
The ECO is a political and economic intergovernmental organization founded by Türkiye, Pakistan and Iran in 1985 to serve as a platform to discuss and improve development and promote trade and investment opportunities. It currently has seven more members: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The summit held every two years at the level of heads of state and government saw the last organization in Turkmenistan in November 2021.
Pointing to the serious challenges at the global level, such as rising food and energy costs and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza that entered its 34th day, the president emphasized the need for a "more transparent, fairer international economic system," which he said was needed more than ever.
"As Türkiye, we continue our people-oriented initiatives against these disruptions in the international economic system in the current conjuncture," he said.
"With a population of 500 million and a total income of $1.5 trillion (TL 42.7 trillion), the Economic Cooperation Organization undoubtedly has an important position in this respect. However, it is thought-provoking that the trade between the members of the organization corresponds to only $85 billion," Erdoğan said.
"I believe that this figure does not befit us. We must increase our efforts to raise our trade volume to $100 billion in the first place," he urged.
"We must strengthen our cooperation potential from trade to energy, from transportation to the environment. We now need to put into effect the Economic Cooperation Organization Trade Agreement (ECOTA), which is among the strategic goals of our 2025 vision document and unfortunately has not been implemented for 20 years," he explained.
"Making the Economic Cooperation Organization Trade and Investment Bank (ECOBANK), which we host in Istanbul, more active with the participation of all members will serve this purpose," he added.
Furthermore, he called the countries to expand cooperation in the tourism and travel sector, noting these topics were discussed extensively at the meeting held by the tourism ministers in October.
"I would like to thank you for your support in the selection of Erzurum as the Economic Cooperation Organization Tourism Capital of 2025 at the meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to Erzurum, the crossroads of civilizations," Erdoğan said.
Recalling the energy infrastructure investments that have been done in recent years, especially the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) – a key pipeline that carries natural gas from Azerbaijan to Türkiye, the president said a significant contribution to the energy supply security was set both in the country and region.
He also stressed the importance of collaboration in the clean energy sector and mutual work in the environmental projects, highlighting Türkiye's "Zero Waste" initiative pioneered by First Lady Emine Erdoğan.
"As Economic Cooperation Organization countries, we can play a greater role in this field with the steps we take together," he said.
"Remember, unity creates strength," he stressed.
"With this motto, it would be beneficial to increase our joint investments in the development of new technologies in the field of energy and cleaner initiatives such as renewable energy and hydrogen," the president added.
"The value of the east-west mid-Caspian corridor initiative has increased further in the face of current developments," he also said. "We must continue to improve the functionality of the corridor in coordination, which benefits us all."
He also invited all countries' members to ink the Charter of the Economic Cooperation Organization Clean Energy Center signed by Türkiye, to be established in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.