Pakistan presses ECO members for visa-free connectivity

Uzbekistan – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation (ECO) approved Pakistan’s suggestion on Saturday for the development of an aviation network and easing visa rules for travelers within and outside the region.

The suggestion was submitted during a summit meeting wherein the Secretary General ECO instructed his team to acknowledge Pakistan’s suggestion to add the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to the coordinating functions of the suggested ECO Tourism Advisory Committee.

Pakistan’s proposal at the ECO Summit to boost the coordination of human resource development and expand its network with airlines was highly appreciated by the members at a time when visa-free connectivity is becoming popular across the globe.

In this regard, the formation of an advisory committee on promoting regional tourism was agreed upon after the members considered the suggestion of Pakistani representative. During the session, Uzbek members also lauded the suggestions made by Pakistan for operating more flights from Pakistan to Uzbekistan, Dunya News reported.

As far as the ECO region is concerned, there is a lot of potential for Islamic tourism in Uzbekistan and other countries as Uzbekistan, has been the birthplace of many great Islamic scholars, whose teachings have educated the Muslim world with excellent knowledge of humanity and Islam. 

It bears mentioning that ECO was founded as the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) in 1964 by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Türkiye, the Forum was renamed as the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in 1985.

The ECO Region shelters more than 460 million inhabitants and expands over 8 million square kilometers of land, connecting the north to south, south and east to the west, Asia to Europe and Eurasia to the Arab World. Composed of some Caucasus, South, West and Central Asian countries, ECO is one of the oldest intergovernmental organizations.

The founding and fundamental goal of the Organization is to create amenable and conducive conditions for the continued promotion of sustainable economic development in the region, aiming at joint welfare and well-being of the Member States. The members of the bloc are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.