President: ECO members set for bolstering bilateral ties

He made the remarks while speaking to reporters upon his arrival at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on Wednesday night from Islamabad, Pakistan, where he attended 13th ECO Summit.

By constructive interaction we mean that it should primarily be forged with neighboring states and the ECO members, President Rouhani said adding that proper steps have been taken during the summit to this end.

Noting that ECO Summit highlighted promoting bonds among ECO member states, the President added that participants of the ECO Summit underlined the necessity of cooperating on road, railway and shipping activities as well as gas and oil sectors. They have also called for removing obstacles in the way of trade among those countries.

All member states stressed the need for boosting bilateral cooperation in various fields and that has led to releasing a good statement which emphasized proper use of the ECO member states capacities, the President told reporters.

He added that the fight against extremism and terrorism was another priority that has been highlighted during the summit.

Referring to his meetings with Pakistani premier and Turkish president on the sidelines of the summit, Rouhani said that Iran, Pakistan and Turkey are among the founding members of the ECO and that the meetings focused on bilateral relations between the two sides.

Rouhani further noted that during the meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, the two discussed promotion of bilateral banking relations and using their national currencies for trade activities. It was also agreed that preferential tariff agreement earlier discussed by the two countries’ officials be implemented.

Turkey’s investment in Iran and regional developments were also discussed in the meeting with Turkish president, President Rouhani said.

He hailed his talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, saying that the two exchanged views on bilateral ties, cooperation in the field of energy and increasing gas exports to Turkey.

Strengthening ECO will benefit the region and will contribute to promoting cooperation among Pakistan, Iran and Turkey and eventually to regional stability, said the President.

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