The 5th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Session of Ministers of Economy and Finance was held by videoconference in Dushanbe

On 26 May 2021, the 5th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Ministerial Session on Economy and Finance was held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Zavqizoda Zavqi Amin, by videoconference which was attended and addressed by the ECO Secretary-General, Hadi Soleimanpur, and the Ministers of the organization’s member states.

Zavqizoda Z.A. in his speech noted that, in order to fulfill the instructions and assignments of the Founder of peace and national unity - Leader of the nation, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, an Action Plan was approved and is being implemented to prevent and reduce the potential impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in the world on the national economy. As a result, according to statistics, the volume of gross domestic product in January-April 2021 increased by 8%, which is 1.7 percentage points higher than in the same period in 2020 (6.3%).

It was noted that the share of trade of ECO member states in the country’s foreign trade was 40 percent and increased by 10 percent in the first 4 months of 2021.

The ECO member states were invited to take advantage of the good investment opportunities of the Republic of Tajikistan to strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, industry, energy, agriculture, transport and tourism.

It was also noted that Dushanbe was declared the tourism capital of the ECO for 2020-2021, and in continuation of measures to develop the tourism sector, the International Festival "Dushanbe - the Tourist Capital of the ECO" and the International Agrotourism Forum are planned to be held in Dushanbe in July this year.

It should be noted that Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are members of ECO.

At the end of the session, the «Declaration of Dushanbe » was adopted and the participants expressed their readiness to make maximum use of the potential of the organization to ensure sustainable development in its regions and to develop mutually beneficial cooperation.