[000:00:00;00] we are with you in this group, mr. bozharb, thank you very much, mrs. khalji, greetings and respect, to all the viewers of the economic table program, as you heard in the news, the 16th summit of the economic cooperation organization (ecco) at the uzbekistan table in tashkent ended its work an hour ago. we are holding the economy table under the same pretext and we want to discuss the importance of this organization and how effective it can be on the development of our foreign trade. follow us on the news network thank you well, along with the economy table is one of the good events and one of the emphasis that we

have since the beginning of the 13th government, repeatedly from the language of our people's government. we hear and we are seeing active presence in international organizations and organizations, which naturally can have a more active role for our country, we can take more advantage of these opportunities in order to increase our business, but what will be achieved is the numbers. it will show how much you could have used these capacities in the future. we tried a lot and we went to various organizations and gave speeches. were we able to realize the potential of these capacities or not ? we want to discuss this at the economic table today. regarding this economic cooperation organization, ekko, let's see that this opportunity is basically several dozen. it's been 40 years since we have the ecco organization, why , for example, like some other international organizations and institutions , it still hasn't worked as well as it should, but the latest statistics of our foreign trade means the latest statistics

announced by the customs are trade. in the first half of this year, it was 10 billion dollars ekko members, i am grateful for your presence compared to last year, both weight and value have increased . let's take a look at the statistics and see, basically , when did this eko organization start working ? since 1943, we, iran, pakistan and turkey established eco together, although at that time it was called something else, then it left in 1957, we had a stop . there were 3 countries, then in 1971, there were 10 countries. which countries are afghanistan, gaza, kyrgyzstan , tajikistan? pakistan, iran, turkey , republic of azerbaijan and uzbekistan are 10 countries now, the formation of ecco together with a population of 450 million people means that it is a relatively large market. mr. raisi, in his speech today, i saw that they emphasized that ecco is one of

the most important organizations in the region and what are the goals of economic cooperation in the region. naturally, if you take a look everywhere in the world, the organizations that exist in this way in the world facilitate a few things for themselves , they facilitate transit, they facilitate customs activities , they have an international agreement with each other that the members who formed this union together or by forming this group together, they can use preferential tariffs and other things , they have a common bank, they have a common visa, they can travel easily and do business easily. naturally, there must be a difference between their presence in that organization and their absence or non-member countries. naturally , ekko follows the same goal and what was he looking for? the development of transportation and communication has been to remove trade barriers. i ask you to expand economic, cultural, technical and scientific cooperation. but he has not been very successful in the past few decades that he has been working. now at the table in economics, we will discuss why this basically happened, but for example, one of the events that

happened was an agreement. in the name of akuta, which was supposed to be a preferential trade agreement between eco members, although it is an agreement , i think it has five members, it is not yet operational . of course, having a preferential tariff in 10 countries can help our business to flourish. there are a number of disputes. there has been political, for example, there have always been negative competitions in the past years in the field of energy, for example, there was no way for the eco cooperation organization to achieve what it had on the first day. sitting and wanting to reach that goal. however, in any case, iran has shown that it wants to play a more active role in the past one or two years, just as they have been saying until now , they are strengthening the policies of the neighborhood, naturally, a part of these are our neighbors and they want to show themselves in the region. grant that it can have a more active presence. naturally, we can understand this from the number and figure of our business in this country, at least for now . i will tell you this next year

. basically, what an opportunity this can be give the authority of the 13th government so that this capacity can be used more. let's see a point that was raised today in the next picture. one point, we also talked about a quote from the leader who said that the position of our country is a geopolitically privileged position. naturally, you should look at the map . businesses of the world, for example, if this road now, because this road passes from east to west, if we don't factor this , there are longer routes, traders in the world insist that the route they should shorten their trade because it will cost them. we talked about it today with the situation we have and it was emphasized that in ekko, we should make more effective use of this east-west corridor . you can see where it starts, for example, it starts from china and comes to afghanistan. there is another pioneer coming and the center of all this, whether it is east, west or if you look at the north and south , if it is iran and can

stabilize this position, it can have an id, that is, we only have the physical capacity of our country and we have its location, we get a financial id because we are using the capacity of our transmission, this was the introduction that i presented to you. let's go and watch a report that our colleagues in the foreign trade group of radio and television news are preparing for you. let's come back and start our conversation with the guests of the program. considering the high economic capacities of the eco-region, including the rich energy resources of various mines and the availability of open water , it is expected that the commercial goals of these countries will be more than the current statistics. in 2022, this volume of numerical exchanges was over 10,100 billion dollars, of which approximately 96 billion dollars was in the domestic sector. the realized area itself shows that we are facing a potential market that can become a pole both in terms of the volume

of commercial exchanges and in terms of human talent and the capacities that exist in this market due to the extent of this market. economic in the world , the regional integration policy of our country, especially in recent years, and the importance of cooperation with neighbors has led to the relative growth of iran's trade with eco member countries. from the beginning of this year to the end of october, 15 million tons of goods with a value of 10 billion dollars were exchanged between binan and 9 members of the eco organization, which is 18% in value and 4% in value with the increase was accompanied by an increase in our exports to 9 member countries in terms of status and second in value. but the essentials of business development in

ecoco economic cooperation organization. for example , joint projects can be defined in the field of energy, which is the major concern of eco countries. well, the islamic republic of iran also has a lot to say in the field of energy. in the field of mining, in the field of agriculture, in the field of tourism, eco economic cooperation organization was established for the first time with the cooperation of iran, pakistan and turkey in 1341 with the initial name of rc or regional civil cooperation organization. the number of members of this the organization currently has 10 members. akko region has an area of ​​8 million.6297 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 50 million people. the main headquarters of the economic cooperation organization (ecco) is in mohammad mohajerari, sda news and broadcasting news. mohammad mohajeridim reports from the foreign trade group of sda news and broadcasting news. here in the studio , the former iranian ambassador to turkestan, mr. farqani, is present. we are at your service, mr.

mirkarim, an expert on central asia and caucasus the representative of the private sector is present at the economy table . we are trying to talk with mr. safari, the economic deputy of the foreign minister , so that we can establish a relationship. let me start with mr. and this question , what is your analysis and evaluation from the 16th summit that was held. in the name of god. hello , i am serving you and all the dear viewers of the program. as mentioned, the 10th summit of the eco regional organization in uzbekistan has started today, and serious and fundamental decisions are expected to be made in this summit. yes, to make the ecco organization more active, ecco is a regional organization, despite the fact that it has been developing for nearly four decades , otherwise

it has been almost 60 years since its establishment, but since the new member countries and its number reached 10 countries, it has been almost four decades, but the expectations and expectations that this organization was supposed to provide economically and commercially for the member countries were unfortunately not successful. it was approved by the heads of state. and it is supposed that after the changes that we witnessed in the region and especially after the covid disease, which had put all the commercial and economic developments under its control in the whole world. at the 16th meeting of the eco summit, serious and fundamental decisions should be made. the presence of all leaders in this meeting shows that

fortunately, all the countries of awad have realized the importance of regional developments and led them to come to the conclusion that regional cooperation should be done more with a win-win perspective. mr. mirkami, what is your opinion? what do you think, so that both we and the rest of the members can benefit more, what solution should be adopted, what policy should we adopt? yes, in the name of god, see about the importance of only these regional organizations, you can see the european union europe , the countries that had the bloodiest wars with each other now, among the neighboring peoples and citizens of these countries, they are taking commemorative photos next to their borders and greatly increasing their economic capacities through cooperation

. the basis of a company becoming established on the industry and, for example, the scandinavian countries that work a lot on knowledge and research , heavy investment in your industries, a division of labor based on their relative disadvantages is formed well , and not only the capacity of their economy to greatly increase their income increase but also security see yourselves, bring them to the place i'm talking about, the country that had the bloodiest wars, world war i, world war ii, now you can easily live next to each other at the border, have meetings , have coffee shops, share border restaurants , and you, when the bloc's economic union if the economy reaches a point where the borders become so faint that not only the goods can move easily but also the factors and institutions of production, including human forces , can circulate without any other restrictions, then the border has no meaning anymore and that is when we say that the economy is in the most efficient form is formed by itself now let's go back to a very talented eco region where 10 countries are members and

its center is iran. this has created many opportunities to increase capital, increase investment, and increase the benefits between countries, but we are still in the beginning. we are his own steps. if we want a regional union to be formed in the form of power, the first thing that should be done is to reduce the economic borders and reduce the customs borders. the most important agreement that currently exists in eko is the ecota agreement, a preferential trade agreement that includes a series of goods. it is possible to redel the lists except for the 15% list of goods that are sensitive and want to be supported, and the rest of the country's diseases, as the famous saying goes, this list is now included in these accounts that the governments can define within a certain time period. reduce them step by step until they finally reach a commercial agreement. free trade means a business

where goods can cross the borders of the country without any borders and without any so-called restrictions . look, what are its characteristics? look, it has been 8 years since we were supposed to reach this region, there is not much time left, that is, by 2025, we have to have a free trade. reach and it is the heavy responsibility of rudishe in 2024 that he wants to be the head of this organization and iran should really attract both the private sector and the various non-governmental organizations of this country, and really encourage them to achieve that goal. what do you do when you spend your business on us? we say development, production increase, inflation control at the same time. these two are in conflict with each other. unless we take care of our business space, unless we remove the customs borders with our countries. there is a country, when we remove the borders, the goods come from there and reach the consumer, with minimum cost, cheaper than inflation. it has an effect. our manufacturers have the best access to the market. here

they reach the maximum production capacity. they can too. when we say export, why do we say that it should be multilateral? naturally, it is multilateral. of course, in the four ecco countries , they have bilateral agreements within their own framework. individual countries themselves have agreements, for example , iran, with the most successful agreements it currently has and it is being implemented quickly. it is in agreement with the free trade agreement of binan and the eurasian economic union, which is doing well, but it has a complication. echoes, we should sign the program with the member countries , we ourselves are members of it , step by step, we all have to move forward, and now there are further paths. it is based on eko and its slogan was also chosen. one of his specific questions was to promote business in that area . how do you think we can use this opportunity to make the points mentioned by mr. mir karimi

? see if it can be realized, considering the very high and acceptable capabilities of the member countries in terms of economic partners, eco exists, the economy of countries can play a complementary role for each other , and for this organization to become more active and the basic role it should play in the development of trade and economy and economic relations between members, in my opinion , the most important factor is to leave traditional views are in business. unfortunately, we have to say that there are still traditional business views in the countries of the region, and the relationship between economic and business relations with the traditional view is still there. well, the countries of central asia have not yet been able to modernize themselves

. countries like afghanistan have not been able to, and are far behind even now, the islamic republic of iran, despite the changes it has made in its commercial views , still has problems in this field, which you should see what exactly do you mean by being an example, see the customs issue that our colleague mentioned, we must definitely make fundamental changes in the customs laws . the important thing is that ekkota has not been successful so far , there are still oppositions to that preferential tariff in the islamic republic of iran, and some expert views are against the preferential definitions. they do this based on the traditional view that these should be changed, these should be changed more facilities in the field of banking education should be given to the businessmen of the countries to become members. you see, we have the eco bank, which

is headquartered in istanbul, turkey, but unfortunately it has no role and no activity. this eco bank , whose main purpose and duty creating facilities for banking purposes and creating facilities and providing facilities to businessmen and economic enterprises in poor countries should be activated. countries should definitely provide their own contribution now and increase it so that this bank can change from a less active bank to a bank. become active and be able to play your role in banking transactions of course, it is weak among the countries, it should be strengthened, and that is because the banking system is still weak in many countries of the region, such as the countries of central asia, and these should be supported with the help of countries such as turkey, iran, and pakistan, which have

advanced banking systems. they want to be helped and achieve growth and development. the important thing is that we should integrate the interests of the countries , that is, all countries should reach the point that their own interests are in the development of commercial and economic relations . how will this be achieved? let it happen with this because naturally it is a part it is very clear that a strong economic union can be beneficial for everyone, but why do you think that this common understanding has not yet been reached by the eco organization ? it was not possible, including the intervention of trans-regional countries, which has played an important and essential role in these years in recent decades to create differences and

competition, along with now fear and terror of regional cooperation. global and international is going in the direction where the role of countries alhamdulillah, we are now at a point where many countries have been left out of fear of other countries . the disputes that existed, the rivalries that existed. for the past 30 years and 40 years, it was known as a factor of insecurity in the region, now it is on the side of security, and we hope that with the sustainable development in afghanistan that has started, we will see the disappearance of the factors of insecurity in the region and more cooperation

. by the way, i am the minister of industry and the minister of industry for a few days they announced their interest in being present at the economic table before , because they want to have more business and strengthen their borders . we are also marketers of iran and russia. you know the region. do you think that our private sector has moved away from that traditional view ? naturally, a part of our producers always want tariffs, so that they can have better production, have tariff support. i saw your speech and you mentioned that we have to lighten our customs borders, naturally, this leveling may be a concern for our businessmen, yes, you are one of the most important obstacles in eco and to become a union

that has men's governments and policy makers of these countries. let's see, for example, iran , uzbekistan, turkmenistan, this is very correct in the topic, in the upstream documents, we give the slogans of export development, but in practice, in the implementation of our single institutions , they are looking for a supportive economy, and with the imposition of tariffs from the economic side of mongolia, such as kazakhstan, like turkey , on the contrary, seeks to reduce the borders they have customs and are looking for different economic agreements. now, kazakhstan is part of the eurasian economic union, and turkey is trying to close its borders with the european union and has created a customs union. from that point of view, turkmenistan has been in the cs community. there is a certain amount of iranians who should really try, they should be encouraged to enter within the framework of the eco measures, and our private sector is definitely looking to facilitate trade, that is, if our producer is the first to be isolated now, the tariffs are definitely not supportive in

the producer's first market . our people say, sir, that the directives should not be made simple overnight a priori capability should be created, this economic agreement will create this capability. when you create a success story of free trade of an economic union , they will have to accept that the role of national organizations will be reduced, and it is these rational organizations that will find the best power, a very successful example . successfully, the challenge has been less because we have been exporting valuable goods for years . we are importing production companies and livestock companies into the new qiya area . there is no problem and soon this year too, god willing , free trade will be operated, but in ekko. well, for example the same goods that we have are sold in the consumer industry in turkey. this is where we can't compare with etihad or in ekko, the challenge is definitely very serious, therefore, in my opinion, this

ekota agreement is a very logical agreement, which is going to increase the goods very step by step within 8 years , the parties are going to reduce the predictability. it is given to the private sector from the side that there are many goods other than sensitive goods that do not come under the ecota framework at all. it seems like a good step. iran should take the lead. turkey is ready to do this. pakistan is ready, so is turkey. resist uzbekistan still has that communist system thinking, but kazakhstan definitely welcomes it. kazakhstan already welcomes it. azerbaijan also has to work in the important north-south corridor. you can see that now azerbaijan is encouraging to pass the old silk road through its own route and all its efforts with armenia is to reduce its need for iran and to be able to connect a very expensive route through the caspian sea to china with that

zangzor corridor. armenia and connect to turkish europe it requires a lot of investment . i don't think i will succeed. we will sit hand in hand and come to alternative routes. so this echo with its strategic geographical positions, i say super strategic , not your strategy, the four ways of the world, echo and the energy hub that can create you. you can consider the internal energy trade with the outside. iran, azerbaijan, kazakhstan, turkmenistan, these are important suppliers of energy in the world, the country is a major consumer of energy , this creates enough motivations that with a business study, giving and taking points imtiaz really wants the professional organization to conduct these negotiations, like the exemption negotiations that our trade organizations had, our officials had with the secretariat of the economic union, the same thing should happen and use your experience. and i am sure that everyone will see the results. now, maybe they are right in saying

that we have formed a lot of support for high walls in our country, and unfortunately they are resisting, but many countries are also interested in making this happen. decisions approved in eko, unfortunately , are not limited to kota, we have many other agreements we also have that some good decisions have been made, but in the implementation phase, unfortunately, it has become very weak . like i said, eco bank, eco insurance, which is regulated in tehran, eco airlines, all these have already been decided, eco transport, eco train, these

were all decisions that were made before. it has been taken, but in our practice, unfortunately, maybe even now nothing is left of it. do you think that the same trans-regional pressures caused one of the factors of trans-regional pressures , but the other factor of regional competitions, we have not yet learned how to carry out our own competitions in these countries. and we should not be inside an organization an economic region, in fact, let's involve our own political and non-economic competitions . unfortunately, there is a situation between the countries of central asia . unfortunately, with the smallest dispute or issue , their economic relations are immediately affected . so, how should this be fixed ? he talked about it, but in practice, he wants it to be corrected, do you think what should happen now, for example, there is a plan, now the horizon of 2025 is also said, from 7 to 8 percent of the business, they want to increase it

to approximately 15, 161, multiply it. it is far from being realized you can expect to see that currently , the volume of foreign trade relations between awadu countries is over 1 trillion dollars, that is, one thousand billion dollars, but the volume of trade relations between azuko countries is about 80 million dollars, it is 80 billion dollars , which is about in its most optimistic state. and this is very little, very little, and this itself shows the failure of the organization, although in the last two years we have seen an increase in this trade between eco countries, and this is a good promise for the future of this organization, which

has reached 8% from 4% in the previous two years. in the next two years, the advance percentage will reach 15 and 20 the percentage that is part of the vision of the countries of the region, if they can modernize and improve their trade, solve the customs problems , you can see the problems in the subsidies and subsidies that unfortunately exist in the economy of the countries , the economy of the islamic republic is a subsidy and support economy. yes, it is still there, and maybe this was one of the reasons for the lack of success . the economic authorities of the country must solve this somehow , because we witnessed a lot of smuggling of goods from this economy, from iran's economy to the neighboring country . thank you very much. two guests of mr. safari's program we could not get in touch with

them. there was another program of the economic desk, which will be on our agenda again with this topic . since i am in the country, a friend, a brother, a co-speaker of tajikistan