Azernews.Az

Conflicts and political differences existing in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) impede the development of successful economic cooperation, head of the Georgian delegation, Foreign Minister of Georgia Maia Panjikidze has said in her speech at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the BSEC in Istanbul, Trend news agency reported.

According to Georgian Foreign Ministry, Panjikidze expressed hope that the BSEC will focus on addressing political differences that exist between the BSEC member countries.

Panjikidze stressed the role of the BSEC in deepening economic cooperation in the region. She focused on the need to deepen trade relations, which is a prerequisite for successful regional economic cooperation.

The Council of Ministers considered the course of execution of the document to update the future economic agenda, activities of the various BSEC working groups, renewal of BSEC observer status and financial issues, as well as cooperation of the BSEC with the European Union.

BSEC was established on June 25, 1992, on the basis of the Istanbul Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Agreement signed by 11 heads of state. The key objective of the organization is to support multilateral political and economic initiatives in the Black Sea region. The organization comprises 13 countries.