03 December 2024 13:29

On 3 December 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Jeyhun Bayramov, participated and delivered a speech at the 28th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) within the framework of his working visit to the city of Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.

In his speech, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke about our country’s vision regarding the strengthening of cooperation within the framework of the ECO, institutional development of the Organization, and the use of cooperation opportunities in the fields of economic-trade, energy security, environment, transport and communications, connectivity and other directions.

The importance of the 28th meeting of the Council of Ministers in terms of discussing the progress achieved and future plans regarding the needs of the ECO and the strengthening of cooperation opportunities among Member States since the meeting of the Organization held in the historic city of Shusha on 10 October 2023 was noted.

Gratitude was expressed to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its Chairmanship of the Organization in 2024, as well as for organizing the 28th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization and for hospitality, and success was wished to the Republic of Kazakhstan, which will chair the Organization next year.

It was highlighted that our country intends to host the Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization next year, and that the active participation and contributions of all Member States in this direction are important.

The importance of the “ECO Vision 2025” strategic document, based on the existing economic potential among Member States, defining goals in combating regional challenges in this direction and corresponding to the sustainable development agenda, was emphasized.

The importance of the activities of specialized bodies in terms of promoting cooperation within the framework of the ECO in various fields, including trade, investments, transport, energy security, agriculture, tourism and environmental protection, was noted. It was noted that the ECO Research Center and the Clean Energy Center will operate in our country, and in this regard, the signing and ratification of their founding documents are important for ensuring the effectiveness of the aforementioned institutions.

Taking into account that many of the ECO countries are landlocked, the importance of the “North–South Corridor”, the “East–West Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor”, the “Digital Silk Way”, the modernization of the “Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway”, as well as regional transport and infrastructure projects that will connect the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan with the East Zangezur economic region through the territory of Iran was stressed.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, speaking in detail about the achievements obtained within the framework of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), hosted by our country last month and held in the ECO region for the first time, noted that the agreements reached within the framework of COP29, including the Baku Finance Goal, are an important turning point in the direction of combating climate change.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, speaking about regional sustainable development initiatives, expressed confidence that the “Agreement on Strategic Partnership in the field of green energy development and transmission between the Governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Uzbekistan” signed within the framework of COP29 in this direction will play an exceptional role in ensuring economic development and energy security in our region.

At the end of the meeting, the final document titled “Mashhad Communiqué” was adopted.