In an interview with the Tasnim News Agency, Asad Majeed Khan, secretary general of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) outlined the organization’s priorities for translating regional agreements into practical economic outcomes, highlighting the need to reduce trade barriers, improve connectivity, strengthen regional value chains and capitalize on the complementary economic capacities of member states.

The representative said that although the ECO region has significant geographical, economic and human potential, realizing those advantages would require more effective implementation of existing agreements, closer coordination among member states and sustained cooperation on trade facilitation, industrial development and investment.

The full text of the interview is as follows:

Tasnim: The ECO Ministerial Meeting on Industry and Transport was recently held. In your view, to what extent can agreements and membership in regional pacts foster trade development and the joint production of goods?

Majeed Khan: There is no doubt that regional agreements provide an important basis for expanding trade and promoting joint production. The real challenge, however, is turning these agreements into practical cooperation, concrete projects and tangible economic benefits.

For ECO Member Countries, regular high-level policy dialogue and expert consultations are essential to coordinate efforts, address challenges and turn shared priorities into results. While ministerial meetings provide political direction, continued engagement among national experts helps maintain momentum and turn shared priorities into concrete results. In this context, the Fourth ECO Ministerial Meeting on Industry, held in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan, on 23 September 2026, after a gap of around 20 years, marked an important step towards revitalizing regional industrial cooperation after a twenty-year gap. The adoption of the Dushanbe Declaration on Revitalizing Regional Industrial Cooperation renewed Member States’ commitment to strengthening industrial partnerships and expanding opportunities for joint production.

Importantly, the Meeting agreed to begin preparing a renewed ECO Regional Strategy on Industrial Cooperation. The aim is to bring together existing regional plans of action, road maps and initiatives in the industry sector into one coherent, streamlined and practical framework that reflects the region’s current needs, sets clear priorities and provides a stronger basis for implementation.

The success of this process will depend on the sustained engagement and active collaboration of all Member States. Their continued input, technical expertise and ownership will be essential to ensure that the renewed strategy reflects shared priorities and leads to concrete initiatives.

The Declaration also identifies practical areas for stronger cooperation, including the alignment of industrial standards and certification procedures, technology transfer, investment, support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and the application of innovative and advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence and digitalization.

Tasnim: What are your proposals for increasing the share of trade among ECO member states?

Majeed Khan: Increasing the share of intra-ECO trade requires a comprehensive approach that addresses both the cost and the ease of doing business across the region. The ECO has a significant geographical, economic and human potential, but this potential can be translated into higher intra-regional trade only through stronger connectivity, easier movement of capital and people, more predictable trade rules and effective implementation of the agreements and mechanisms already developed by ECO. Our priority should therefore be to move from commitments to implementation, and from individual initiatives to a more integrated regional approach.

In 2025, the ECO region’s total trade with the world was recorded at USD 1.058 trillion accounting for approximately 2% of world trade. Intra-regional trade stood at USD 138.6 billion, representing only 13% of ECO’s external trade - a figure that remains far below the region’s true potential. Advancing regional trade integration remains a key priority, with the ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) at its core.

Following the landmark 9^th Meeting of the ECOTA Cooperation Council (CCM), convened on 30-31 July 2024 in Islamabad after a five-year hiatus, the Organization has made substantial progress. The meeting concluded with a consensus to launch a formal review and amendment process of the Agreement. In this regard, the 5^th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Commerce and Foreign Trade (MM CFT), held on 26^th November 2025 in Istanbul, approved the initiation of technical negotiations by the Technical Negotiation Committee (TNC), comprising trade experts from the ECO Member States. The Committee convenes regularly to discuss the way forward on ECOTA revision.

In parallel, the Secretariat continues to advance initiatives in customs cooperation and trade facilitation. Simplifying customs procedures, reducing documentary requirements, promoting electronic data exchange, strengthening Single Window systems and improving risk management can substantially reduce the time and cost of cross-border trade. Greater interoperability among customs administrations and the wider use of digital solutions would also make it easier for businesses, particularly SMEs, to participate in regional value chains. ECO can play an important role in bringing Member States together to develop common approaches and practical mechanisms in these areas.

Further, the ECO Trade Facilitation Strategy was approved by the 5th ECO Trade Ministerial Meeting. The strategy places particular emphasis on digital trade, e-commerce readiness, and streamlined border procedures across the ECO region.

In a complementary initiative, negotiations on the Draft ECO Trade Facilitation Agreement (ECO-TFA) are ongoing. The draft builds on the international best practices, WTO TFA, and regional needs with the aim to provide a robust legal framework to improve the movement, release, and clearance of goods across the ECO region. By enhancing transparency and digitalizing customs documentation, it will contribute to reducing both costs and time in cross border trade. This collective engagement is vital to ensure that the ECO-TFA reflects the practical needs and priorities of all Member States and became a milestone for regional trade facilitation.

In this context, we also welcome the signing of the ECO Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters and the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Trade Promotion Activities among ECO Member States by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the Republic of Turkey at the 5th ECO Trade Ministerial Meeting.

Finally, increasing intra-ECO trade will also require stronger private-sector engagement. As such, we continue to support business forums, business-to-business contacts, investment promotion and the identification of concrete opportunities in sectors where Member States have complementary capacities. So far, six ECO business forums have been organized on the sidelines of ECO Summits in recent years, in Turkey, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, with the most recent 6^th Business Forum organized in Shusha, Azerbaijan on the sidelines of 17^th ECO Summit on July 2, 2025 as a part of the first “ECO Week”.

Tasnim: What do you see as the challenges of the current situation?

Majeed Khan: The ECO region today has considerable economic potential, but this potential is not yet fully reflected in the level of intra-regional trade. One of the main challenges is that trade among ECO Member States remains below what could reasonably be expected given our geographical proximity, complementary economies and shared historical and cultural ties. The current situation therefore calls for a stronger focus on removing the practical barriers that prevent businesses from taking advantage of regional opportunities.

One important challenge is the persistence of trade and non-tariff barriers, including differences in customs procedures, standards, certification requirements and regulatory frameworks. Even where tariffs are relatively low or preferential arrangements exist, differences in procedures can increase transaction costs and discourage companies from entering neighboring markets. Addressing these barriers requires sustained technical cooperation and, most importantly, effective implementation of decisions already taken at the regional level.

Connectivity is another major challenge. The ECO region encompasses a vast geographical area connecting Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Caucasus and the Europe. However, the efficiency of this geography depends on the availability of reliable transport infrastructure, efficient border crossings and predictable transit procedures. Delays at borders, insufficient interoperability between transport and customs systems, and differences in transit regulations can significantly increase the cost and time of regional trade.

We should also recognize the changing nature of the global trading environment. Geopolitical developments, disruptions in global supply chains, fluctuations in commodity prices and increasing protectionist tendencies create additional uncertainty for our economies. At the same time, these developments also demonstrate the importance of regional economic cooperation.

For ECO, the response should be practical and forward-looking. Rather than attempting to address every challenge simultaneously, we need to concentrate on areas where regional cooperation can produce measurable results: trade facilitation, digitalization, connectivity, investment, market access and the removal of non-tariff barriers. A stronger implementation mechanism and closer coordination among Member States will be essential for turning our shared vision into tangible economic outcomes.

Tasnim: What are the greatest competitive advantages of the various ECO member states?

Majeed Khan: One of ECO's greatest strengths is that its Member States possess highly complementary economic structures and resources. The region includes major energy producers, rapidly developing manufacturing economies, important agricultural producers, mineral-rich countries and strategically located trade and transit hubs. This diversity represents an opportunity to build regional value chains in which the competitive strengths of one Member State complement those of another.

The energy resources and strategic geographical position of countries such as Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan provide an important foundation for regional economic cooperation. At the same time, countries such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have significant industrial and manufacturing capacities and can serve as important production and distribution centers. Agriculture and food security represent another important area of complementarity. Several ECO Member States are major producers of agricultural commodities, while others have strong processing, packaging, logistics and distribution capabilities. Greater cooperation in agricultural value chains could therefore create opportunities not only for increasing trade in primary products but also for developing higher-value processed goods and improving regional food security.

The region's human capital and relatively young and dynamic populations are also important assets. Increasing digital connectivity and the development of knowledge-based sectors provide opportunities to expand cooperation beyond traditional merchandise trade into services, technology, e-commerce and innovation. ECO can facilitate greater interaction among universities, research institutions, technology companies and businesses in order to support this transition.

Perhaps the most important competitive advantage of the ECO region as a whole is its geography. ECO Member States are positioned at the crossroads of major markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South Asia. If this geographical advantage is supported by efficient transport corridors, modern border infrastructure, harmonized procedures and predictable transit arrangements, the region can become not only a destination for trade but also a major bridge between markets. Turning geographical proximity into economic connectivity should therefore be one of our central priorities.

Tasnim: How important is the expansion of trade corridors among ECO member states?

Majeed Khan: The expansion and efficient functioning of trade corridors is absolutely fundamental to the future of economic cooperation within ECO. Our region has a unique geographical position connecting major markets across Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and South Asia. However, geographical proximity alone does not automatically generate trade. We need efficient, reliable and predictable corridors that allow goods to move across borders with minimum cost, time and uncertainty.

A successful trade corridor requires modern infrastructure, efficient border crossings, harmonized customs and transit procedures, digital information exchange, effective risk management and coordinated action among the countries along the route. Improving these elements simultaneously can significantly reduce logistics costs and make regional trade more competitive.

The development of corridors has an important role in diversifying supply chains and strengthening economic resilience. Recent disruptions in global trade have demonstrated the importance of having alternative routes and reliable regional connections. ECO Member States can benefit from developing and strengthening multiple complementary corridors linking Central Asia with the Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and the wider Middle Eastern and South Asian markets. Such connectivity can also create opportunities for landlocked Member States by providing more efficient access to international markets.

Another important dimension is the development of economic activity along the corridors themselves. Transport infrastructure should be accompanied by logistics centers, border markets, industrial zones, warehouses and other trade-related services. This would allow corridors to generate investment, employment and value addition rather than functioning merely as transit routes. In this respect, the concept of joint and interconnected economic and trade zones could provide an additional platform for strengthening regional value chains.

ECO is well placed to promote greater coordination among Member States in this field. Our objective should be to ensure that the major corridors within the ECO region become faster, more predictable, more digitally connected and more business-oriented. If we succeed in combining physical connectivity with trade facilitation and regulatory cooperation, trade corridors can become one of the most powerful instruments for increasing intra-ECO trade, attracting investment and strengthening the economic integration of our region.