ECO Foreign Ministers’ Council meeting to conclude – Photo: ECO

The Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) will conclude a two-day meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan today.

Delegations from member nations including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey attended, with Uzbekistan chairing the meeting. The ECO was formed in 1985 with the intention of creating a single market for goods and services among Asian countries and to promote barrier-free trade, similar in structure to the European Union.

Instability persists among ECO member nations with Iran currently rocked by domestic protests and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government signing trade deals with Chinese companies for excavation of minerals and oil in the Amu Darya Basin.

As the Council of Ministersthe main policy-making entity of ECO, expect the approval of the annual work plan take place which includes approving budgets and appointments of senior management. Still, any new agreements or progress beyond that is unlikely due to regional instability and members increasingly looking outside the bloc for growth opportunities.

Expect the most vocal participant to be Pakistan, whose delegation will likely use the forum to forge more bilateral and strategic partnerships for funding and development to avert the country’s impending risk of economic collapse.