President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam Hossein Shafei on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with non-implementation of the already signed agreements for expansion of trade among Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states.
Shafei made the remarks during a meeting in Tehran with Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Khusrav Noziri.
Shafei, who also heads ECO Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECO CCI), said that the ECO ten member countries’ trade with the world totals a roughly $930 billion while their intra-regional trade hardly reaches $70 billion.
He argued that intra-regional problems between ECO member countries are far more than their problems with other world countries, referring, for instance, to difficult requirements for receiving business visa in some member countries.
Shafei also touched upon the problems on the way of intra-regional transportation among ECO member states which he said are hindering transportation cooperation despite the existence of agreements in this regard.
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The ECO secretary general, for his part, said that in an ECO ministerial meeting in Uzbekistan in January, a final draft of Tashkent statement will be finalized which he said is related to expansion of trade, transportation and other ways of cooperation in the bloc.
Noziri said that, as like as the Iran Chamber of Commerce president, he is not satisfied with the intra-regional trade among ECO member countries and believes that there are many potentials that have to be used.
He said that ECO has a 500 million people population which accounts for 6% of the world population while the bloc has an only 4% share of the global trade.
He added that the intra-regional trade of the ECO states accounts for as few as 7.2% of their total trade with the world.
Noziri referred to a 2003 ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA), noting that some member states have not yet agreed with the most significant article of this agreement which is about reducing tariffs in trade with other member countries.
He noted that the ECO members have agreed to double intra-regional trade from a current 7-8 percent of their total trade with the world to 15 percent in 2025.
Each member country has to do its share in fulfilment of the goals of the organization, Noziri said.
Not all the 10 member countries have equal capacities and Iran is expected to play a more active role in the bloc as China is playing the role of the driving force of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he added.