Secretariat of the Economic Cooperation Organization

ECO REGION news flash

MAY 05, 2019 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 113

Head of ASK: fundamental reforms in Azerbaijan contribute to develop-ment of human resources

The fundamental economic reforms that have been carried out in recent years in Azerbaijan have contributed to the training of professional per-sonnel and the development of human resources, Mammad Musayev, President of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan (ASK), said during the annual "Business Co-operation in the Field of Human Resources" conference held in Baku, Trend reports. According to him, efforts aimed at transforming “black gold” (i.e. crude oil) ...full story

Minister: Ensuring food safety in Azerbaijan stimulates exports

Ensuring food security in Azerbaijan will give impetus to the grow of ex-ports, Azerbaijani Labor and Social Protection Minister Sahil Babayev said. Babayev made the remarks at the presentation of the State Food Safety Program in Azerbaijan for 2019-2025, Trend reports on May 3. The minister noted that food safety issues have an impact on employment is-sues. "Ensuring food safety affects the proper formation of employment in the food sector, as well as the production of ,...full story

Afghan Goods On The Way To UK Via Lapis Lazuli Route

A shipment of 17 tons of cashmere that values up to $1 million is on its way to the United Kingdom through the Lapis Lazuli Corridor, officials from Transport Ministry said Thursday. The shipment left Torghondi Port in Herat province in the west of Afghanistan on April 20 and has arrived in Azerbaijan after passing Turkmenistan, said Hekmatullah Qowanj, spokes-man for the Road Transport Department of the Ministry of Transport. He said the truck that transfers the Afghan cashmere will arrive in Turkey next week and then ...full story

Afghan Saffron Prices Go Up Amid Increase In Exports

The prices of Afghanistan’s saffron have gone up by $400 in each kilogram in local markets after the exports of the spice to international markets have seen a dramatic increase, a local investor said. Afghanistan harvested at least 14 tons of saffron last year and the amount is expected to increase this year, according to statistics by the Ministry of Agriculture, ....full story

EBRD, UN Climate Fund loan $16.7 million to build 30 MW solar plant in eastern Kazakhstan

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) will loan $16.7 million to China’s Universal Energy to build a 30 MW solar power plant in Zhangiztobe in the East Kazakhstan region. The agreement was signed during the recent Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing that gathered nearly 5,000 delegates, including 40 foreign leaders. The financial pack-age includes an EBRD loan up to 4.4 billion tenge (US$11.7 million) in local currency and up to $5 million from the GCF, a fund established.....full story

Eurasian Development Bank to provide 102 billion tenge to build Saryarka gas pipeline

Eurasian Development Bank will be included in the list of Saryarka gas pipeline in-

vestors with a commitment to provide 102 billion tenge (US$267 million) for the pro-

ject. “We are now working on our construction of the Astana gas pipeline (Saryarka

gas pipeline) project. We talked about this here last year. Our credit committee has

already approved this transaction, so we are proceeding to the practical implementa-

tion. For us, the sum of our transaction is very significant because ...full story

Iran has 3rd largest GOR among region’s oil exporters: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest Regional Economic Outlook titled “Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia” puts Iran’s Gross Official Reserves (GOR) at $108.3 billion for 2018, marking it the third biggest oil exporting country in terms of GOR. According to the international body, despite the U.S. efforts to pressure Iran's economy, the country's foreign exchange reserves in 2019 will remain above $100 billion, and Iran will keep its position in the region. The IMF sees Iran’s gross official r...full story

Iran increases non-oil exports to Pakistan

Iran’s non-oil exports to Pakistan increased up to 36 percent in the past Iranian year (ended March 20). The Iranian Embassy in Islamabad announced that trade between Iran and Pakistan had witnessed a considerable growth, adding that Iran exported products worth $1.247 billion to Pakistan, reported Fars News Agency. It added that trade between Iran and Pakistan has undergone an increase of $917 million. Imports from Pakistan saw a decrease of 16 percent and stood at $330 million. Iran and Paki-stan have agreed to enhance the bilateral trade volume... full story

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Iran, Kyrgyzstan hold 4th round of political talks

Fourth round of political consultations between Iran and Kyrgyzstan was held in Teh-ran in a meeting attended by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi and his Kyrgyz counterpart Nuran Niyazaliyev, Trend reports citing IRNA. The meeting focused on wide range of issues and mutual cooperation and the two sides agreed on schedule of visits by the two countries’ high-ranking officials..... full story

Kyrgyz, Uzbek Presidents discuss bilateral cooperation by phone

A phone conversation took place between President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov

and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Kyrgyz President’s press service

reported. During the conversation, the two leaders discussed topical issues of bilateral

Kyrgyz-Uzbek cooperation, checked their positions on previously reached agreements,

and discussed participation in upcoming international multilateral events.

… end of story

Fresh pitch made to ADB for investment

PAKISTAN on Thursday made a fresh pitch for international investment and multilat-eral financial and technical support to help introduce reforms in key sectors of its econo-my. Dr Ishrat Husain, prime minister’s adviser on institutional reforms and austerity, asked the international development community to “step up its support to the new gov-ernment in undertaking much-needed investments in infrastructure, energy and social development sectors” and hoped such investments, underwritten by bold country-owned economic and .... full story

Country’s exports stand at $11.462 bln in 6 months, Senate told

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan Thursday apprised the Senate that the country’s total exports and imports stood at $ 11.462 billion and $ 26.867 billion during the period from September 2018 to February 2019. Responding to a ques-tion of Senator Kalsoom Perveen, the minister said the trade deficit was recorded as $ 21.523 billion on March 1. To another question, the minister said various measures were taken to improve the balance of trade of the country which included revision of export enhancement package, reduction in the ..... full story

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Foreign Minister Attended the Ministerial Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin attended and ad-dressed the 11th ministerial meeting of the states party to the Memorandum of Under-standing on Dubregional Drug Control Cooperation today in Tashkent. In his state-ment, Muhriddin touched upon the initiatives and contributions of Tajikistan in combat-ing illicit drug trafficking and organized crime. He invited participants to take part in the high-level conference International and Regional Cooperation on Countering Terror-ism and Its Financing Through Illicit Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime...full story

Tajikistan Attended the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Ministerial Meeting

The delegation of Tajikistan led by the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khusrav Noziri attended the 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), which was held yesterday in Doha, Qatar. In his speech, Noziri highlighted the position of Tajikistan on various aspects of cooperation within the ACD, reported the Tajik Minis-try of Foreign Affairs. The Doha Declaration of the 16th ACD Ministerial Meeting was adopted following the meeting.... full story

New Eastern Express to pave way for tourist train journeys across Turkey

Turkey is preparing to launch a second train for the Eastern Express at the end of this month in response to the rising demand for the traditional express train. The country's Culture and Tourism Ministry is aiming to boost the popularity of "travel-by-train" tourism and to spread it across other cities in Turkey. Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said yesterday in a statement that the first stem of train travel tour-ism, namely the second Eastern Express, will serve to boost tourism since the traditional express train is primarily used for transportation......full story

German, Dutch, Italian firms to invest in OIZs in Yalova

German, Dutch and Italian firms will be investing in ship and clothing specialized orga-nized industrial zones (OIZs) in the northwestern province of Yalova's Çiftlikköy dis-trict, an official said Thursday. The industrial zones, established on a 4 million meter square area, are projected to employ around 20,000-22,000 people. The Ship Specialized Organized Industrial Zone (GİOSB) and Eurasia OIZ, a clothing specialized industrial zone, have been reported to have started receiving demand from abroad..... full story

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Turkmenistan appoints new permanent representative to UNESCO

Ambassador of Turkmenistan to France Shohrat Jumayev has been appointed the per-manent representative of Turkmenistan to UNESCO, Trend reports referring to a pub-lished decree of the Turkmen head of state. A number of historical and cultural monu-ments of Turkmenistan - Ancient Merv, Kunya-Urgench and Ancient Nisa are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.…...full story

Subregional workshop of WCO held in Turkmenistan

A subregional seminar on the exchange of customs information is held on May 1-2 in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat, under the auspices of the regional center of the World Customs Organization (WCO) (headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan), Trend reports refer-ring to the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan. The event is attended by representa-tives of the customs services of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Geor-gia, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Turkmeni-

stan.....full story

CAREC Working Group on the Development of Railway Transport gathers in Tashkent

The fourth meeting of the Working Group on the Development of Railway Transport of the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) was held Tashkent. In ad-dition to representatives of railway administrations from more than 10 countries of Asia and Europe, the meeting was also attended by members of a number of international organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and others......full story

Senate approves the Law on the use of renewable energy sources

The Senate approved a Law “On the Use of Renewable Energy Sources”. In accordance with the Law, renewable energy sources are the energy of the sun, wind, heat of the earth (geothermal), natural movement of water flows, biomass, which are naturally re-stored in the environment. The law establishes the main directions of state policy in the field of the use of renewable energy sources, the characteristic features of the use of re-newable energy sources, the rights and obligations of energy producers and producers of renewable energy sources......full story

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