ISLAMABAD: The government has been urged to grant diplomatic status to the office-bearers of Economic Cooperation Organisation Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s (ECO CCI).
The demand was raised by ECO CCI’s National Committee on Women Entrepreneur Chairperson and FPCCI Vice President Fehmida Jamali in a statement. She demanded the government to play role of facilitator in order to establish Pakistan a viable destination for the ECO CCI.
Fehmida vowed to work for improving and strengthening economic relations among ECO member states and empowering the women entrepreneurship. “I will start with efforts for an ECO free-trade agreement, but the ultimate goal is to establish a monetary union,” she said.
The ECO is an economic alliance among Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and central Asian states, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
ECO, formerly called the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), was extended to take in its fold the central Asian states after the break-up of Soviet Union. Now, it is mostly referred to in leading international reports and studies because of its significance.
Fehmida said intra-region trade is very low compared to other regions. In this respect, the ECO member states should have to make efforts to promote intra-ECO trade and to take steps for improvement of regulatory frameworks and removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers in the region, as the intra-ECO trade situation is, however, far from satisfactory.
