Alwaght - Geopolitical changes in the world after the Ukraine war, which overshadowed the global economy, have significantly increased the importance and status of regional organizations. The countries of the Central Asian region, which in recent months held meetings in the form of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the CICA Summit and the legal regime of the Caspian Sea, in order to strengthen their level of cooperation in the turbulent world and to be safe from the harmful effects of global crises, this time in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) have come together to discuss developing trade cooperation.
The 26th meeting of foreign ministers of ECO member countries was held on Tuesday in the city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. In this meeting, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, Bakhtiyor Saidov, referring to the comprehensiveness of this organization in the fields of geography, religion, culture and customs, said: "ECO region has important economic facilities, rich natural resources, a young and productive population, as well as a dynamic development perspective." Also, the countries of the organization have the ability to expand commercial, transportation, industrial, tourism and environmental protection cooperation.
The participants of this summit discussed a wide range of issues to improve the efficiency of interaction between ECO member countries in the fields of trade, investment, food security, ecology, agriculture and transport corridors. In line with the agenda of the meeting, the delegations of the countries have brought proposals to strengthen the economic performance of the organization with them to this meeting.
At this summit, the Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan presented proposals for the further development of economic relations among ECO members.
Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian at the Tashkent meeting also pointed to important programs to strengthen regional cooperation and said: "Transportation is one of the drivers of convergence and collective development and blossom of the economic capacities of the region in the coming years." As a region, ECO is a transit route connecting peripheral regions including East and South Asia, North and Eastern Europe, and the south of the Persian Gulf. He also listed investment in the gas and electricity sectors as one of ECO's priorities, which can be a basis for participation in the ECO region. Investing in the field of new technologies, knowledge-based industries and digitalization of economic activities were among the other issues that the Iranian foreign minister proposed to increase trade relations between members.
At the end of this summit, the Tashkent Declaration was approved, which, at the suggestion of Kazakhstan, provided for the development of interaction between ECO and confidence building measures in Asia.
Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are members of ECO. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is also present at the summit as an observer country. Afghanistan, as a member of ECO, did not attend the Tashkent meeting due to the non-recognition of the interim government of the Taliban.
The faint position of ECO in regional cooperation
ECO was founded in 1962 with the participation of Iran, Turkey and Pakistan under the title of "Regional Development Cooperation Organization", but this organization was affected by the bipolar structure governing the international system and its activities were interrupted and in 1985, with the agreement of the members, it started working under the name of ECO and since then, intermittent meetings have been held between the officials of member countries. But despite economic capacities of the member states, the regional organization could not achieve its desired goals.
According to the statistics of the International Trade Center (ITC), the annual trade volume of ECO member countries in 2022 was 927 billion dollars, but the volume of trade within the group was less than 70 billion dollars, i.e. less than 8%, this is an unbalanced figure for the countries of the region. Also, foreign direct investment in member countries is only 1.7% of the world's total foreign direct investment, which is much lower than the expectations and economic potential in the region.
Considering the capacities that ECO member countries have in the field of energy, the large market that consumes a lot of human resources, the specific characteristics of geopolitics and other economic sectors, they can be a complementary market for each other's goods, but in the past 51 years, the members have not made enough effort to improve bilateral and multilateral relations.
Although until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of members of this regional organization was limited to Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan, but in the past three decades, the newly established republics of the former Soviet Union have become members of this organization. It was expected that with the joining of new members, this organization would be able to play a role similar to the European Union for the countries of the region, but the level of trade relations and interactions between the countries has not been satisfying, and bilateral relations had not exceeded 5 billion dollars in the best case. ECO member countries supply part of their needs from countries outside the region, while these goods are available in neighboring countries and they can get them at the lower costs.
According to economic experts, by speeding up the implementation of regional agreements, including the ECO trade agreement, the visa facilitation agreement, and the agreement on expansion and support of foreign investment, the member states can overcome the existing problems. Governments can reduce customs tariffs to make it more attractive for businessmen and investors in the region to strengthen their relations with other member countries.
The impact of the Ukraine war on the promotion of ECO
The war in Ukraine has inevitably pushed all countries towards greater integration with their neighbors, and the Eurasian and Iranian republics are no exception to this rule, and they are trying to use each other's capacities in the current situation to boost their economy. Today, regional organizations play an important role in expanding relations between countries, and the ECO organization can increase the annual trade volume between members by strengthening the level of cooperation. Although this organization’s performance was poor in the past years, with a population of 460 million people and an area of 8.6 million square kilometers, ECO has great potential, which presents a promising horizon for strengthening cooperation between members.
Most of the countries in the region have huge oil and gas reserves that can meet the needs of countries that do not benefit from these resources, such as Turkey and Pakistan, and this issue will increase the volume of relations between the countries. On the other hand, ECO organization is located at the intersection of east-west and north-south corridors, which can control the economic pulse of the region by developing these infrastructures. The establishment of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul railway route that connects the Indian Subcontinent to Europe will have a significant impact on the development of East-West relations and will turn these countries into powerful actors in the region. On the other hand, these railway routes will help to develop transportation and increase income in the region. The Pakistan-Iran-Turkey rail corridor, which was not implemented for many years, was launched in January 1400 after a 10-year hiatus, and according to the agreements made between the three countries, it is supposed to run regularly every week.
In recent months, Iran's North-South corridor has been launched this is a good opportunity for the ECO countries to transfer their goods to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf that can boost relations between the ECO members. It will also help to reduce costs, and Central Asian countries have welcomed this Iranian corridor, and with the development of infrastructure in the future, we will see the development of relations between the countries of the region and Iran.
The incumbent Iranian government, which has put boosting ties with the East top on its foreign policy agenda, is seeking to develop relations with the countries of the region and recently has inked deals with some Central Asian republics. In past year, Iran has made efforts to improve level of cooperation in the region, including joining Shanghai Organization and developing relations with Russia and Central Asian countries. The Central Asian republics that have suffered a lot from the consequences of the war in Ukraine and cannot use Russia as gate to Europe anymore are trying to export their goods to the world markets through Iran's railway routes.
Russia, which is trying to reduce the damage of Western sanctions through developing economic relations with regional countries, seeks to increase level of interactions with these countries by investing in the infrastructure of Central Asian countries and Iran. Russia, which considers itself as the big brother of former Soviet republics, can play an important role in promoting economic and commercial cooperation between ECO member countries.
ECO on Path of Silk Road
Another important point is that ECO member states are on the path of China's "One Belt and One Road" project, and with the implementation of this project, level of interactions between countries will increase and they can play an important role in relations between East and West.
Due to Ukraine war, routes to Europe from Russian territory are closed, and alternative routes in the region became more important. China has more than 600 billion dollars in trade volume with Europeans, most of the country's exports and imports to European markets were carried out through the Russian border, which is currently closed, and the Chinese are looking for alternative and cheaper routes. For this end ECO members are the best option. Beijing authorities have also counted on these countries. The Silk Road, which connects regions with 4 billion populations, will lead to the creation of large-scale employment in the countries along this corridor, helping them earn a lot of income.
Therefore, developing regional corridors will contribute to the countries' interactions greatly, and if ECO members have the will to strengthen relations they can provide part of their needs from regional countries. Due to the fact that sea routes are more risky and air routes are expensive, therefore land and rail corridors will attract global attention in the future. Indeed, Chinese are trying to build their mega-project of the New Silk Road due to importance and great role that these rail routes will play in the future of world trade, and the countries that are along these corridors will receive more attention than others.
