The Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO)

The Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) was established in 1964 to strengthen economic, technical and cultural cooperation among Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. 
In 1992, 7 more countries joined the organisation, making the total 10: Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The main objectives of the organisation are stimulating the economies and enhancing the sustainable development of the member states, liberalising trade and promoting internal regional trade, integrating economies of the member states into the world economy, improving systems of transportation and communication, liberalising economies and efficient use of material resources of the ECO region.
On November 28, 1992, Azerbaijan joined ECO. Azerbaijan takes an active part in ECO in terms of the liberalisation of its economy. In order to improve economic partnerships among member states and to increase internal regional trade relations, Azerbaijan has signed 10 different agreements, including the Framework Agreement on ECO Trade Cooperation, the Transit Transport Framework Agreement and the Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment.
In 2008, the ECO Trade and Development Bank started to operate. The main objective of the bank is to organise and provide financial resources to expand the internal regional trade of the ECO countries and accelerate their economic development. The main priorities of the bank are projects in the areas of infrastructure, production, transportation, telecommunications and energy. The Charter of the bank was signed by the Republic of Azerbaijan on September 28, 2012, and ratified by the Milli Majlis on February 15, 2013.
The Ministry of Energy was represented at the 2nd meeting of the High-Level Expert Group on Energy of the ECO in Ankara on September 24-25, 2012.
The 3rd meeting of the ministers of energy of ECO member states held in Tehran on March 4-6, 2013, was attended by the Ministry of Energy. 
On May 6, 2013, the Ministry of Energy was also represented at the 23rd meeting of the Regional Planning Council of the Economic Cooperation Organisation in Tehran, Iran.
The first meeting of the Expert Group on the establishment of the ECO Regional Electricity Market, organised by the Ministry of Energy of Iran in Tehran on November 5-6, 2013, was attended by the Ministry of Energy.
The 21st meeting of the Council of Ministers of ECO was held in Tehran, Iran, on November 26, 2013. During the meeting, it was decided to create an ECO Research Center in Baku and the regulations of the center were approved. The 2nd Baku Forum of ECO Member States Economic Think Tanks and 2nd International Conference on Energy, Regional Integration and Socio-economic development were held on October 1, 2014.
On May 25-26, 2015, the 3rd meeting of the High-Level Expert Group on Energy of the ECO was held in Tehran, Iran.
On November 26-27, 2015, a delegation of ECO led by Secretary-General, Halil Ibrahim Akcha, visited Baku.
On December 5-8, 2016, the 27th Meeting of the ECO Regional Planning Council was held in Tehran, Iran.
On March 1, 2017, the 13th ECO Summit was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. Minister of Energy, Natig Aliyev, also attended the event as a member of the Azerbaijani delegation, led by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
On January 14-16, 2020, the 30th Meeting of the ECO Regional Planning Council was held in Tehran, Iran. A representative from the Ministry of Energy attended the meeting.
On January 14-16, 2020, the 30th Meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Regional Planning Council was held in Tehran, Iran. A representative of the Ministry of Energy attended the meeting.
On 12-21 January 2021, the 31st meeting of the Regional Planning Council of the Economic Cooperation Organization was held in virtual format. A delegation consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Energy and agencies under the Ministry took part in the meetings of Committee of the Economic Cooperation Organization on Energy, Minerals and Environment held on January 12 and 18, as well as the plenary session held on January 21.

4th ECO High Level Experts Group Meeting on Energy was held on 22-23 June 2021, and the 4th Eco Energy Ministerial Meeting on 24 June. The high-level representatives of the organization's member countries-Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and a number of international organizations attended at the meeting. Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also attended the meeting. At the end of the meeting, the "Baku Declaration" was adopted with the aim of strengthening energy cooperation within the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). The ECO Energy Strategy 2030 and its Action Plan, the Charter of the Clean Energy Center, and the Regional Electricity Market Roadmap were adopted at the meeting.

Azerbaijan’s hosting of the Clean Energy Center was officially approved at the 25th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization on 27 November 2021 in Ashgabat.

On March 16, 2022 a virtual conference was held in order to establish necessary partnerships in connection with the launch of the ECO Clean Energy Center, which was established jointly with the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Secretariat and of which the International Secretariat will be located in Baku.  At the event, attended by Deputy Minister of Energy Samir Valiyev and Secretary General of the ECO Khusrav Noziri, presentations were made on the establishment and main activities of the Clean Energy Center, and discussions were held on the steps to be taken for the activities of the Center, the work to be done and other topics.