Azernews.Az

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad will visit Azerbaijan in mid-October to attend the summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization, FARS news agency reported.

During the visit Ahmedinejad is expected to meet with Azerbaijan's leadership, the report said.

The 20th Meeting of the Council of Ministers (COM) of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) will be held in the capital Baku on October 15. The high level meetings will be preceded by the Senior Official Meeting scheduled for October 13-14.

The COM will account for the reports of the ECO and its institutions on progress achieved in the main activity area of the ECO that focus, among other issues, on transport, trade, energy, environment and agriculture covering the period 2011-2012. The meeting will adopt substantial decisions on the new initiatives and activities reflected in the Work Program planned for 2012-13. Participation of the ECO and its regional bodies and institutions as well as broad international community is expected.

The mentioned meetings will be concluded by the October 16 summit of the heads of state of the ECO, which will mark nearly two decades of sustainable functioning of the regional organization, second largest in the world. A Baku Declaration outlining the vision and guidance for the organization will be issued at the end of the summit.

The ECO is an intergovernmental organization involving seven Asian and three Eurasian nations, part of the South-central Asian Union. It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities. The common objective is to establish a single market for goods and services, much like the European Union.

The 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 was founded by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in 1985. In 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 are lacking appropriate infrastructure and institutions which the organization is primarily seeking to develop, to make full use of the available resources in the region and provide sustainable development for the member nations.