Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Uzbekistan hosts summit of regional economic alliance

An economic grouping that includes several ex-Soviet nations along with Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey has held a summit in Uzbekistan, and leaders of member countries have vowed to further expand trade and economic ties

Via AP news wire

Thursday 09 November 2023 14:16 GMT

Uzbekistan hosts summit of regional economic alliance

Show all 12

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

An economic bloc that includes several ex-Soviet nations along with Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey held a summit Thursday, with leaders vowing to further expand trade and economic ties.

Members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), who met in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent, discussed plans for speeding regional economic integration.

They also talked about the need for increasing the ECO's global profile through fostering regional and global partnerships.

“Our vast region, which is home to half a billion people, has a great potential for developing cooperation in trade, economy, industry, investment, innovation and transport,” the summit's host, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, said in a speech at the summit.

He said it was important to “fully utilize the potential of transcontinental transport corridors that pass through our territories and link us with major markets in the Asia-Pacific region, South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.”

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the need to develop trade routes across the Caspian Sea region, which includes several of the countries. He said the the grouping's participants must “continue to work in coordination and improve the functionality of the corridor, which is to the benefit of us all of us.”

Erdogan noted “we are one step closer to permanent peace in our region" after ECO's member Azerbaijan in September quickly reclaimed the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh that had been controlled by local Armenian forces backed by Armenia for more than 30 years.

The summit's participants also urged the international community to come up with a “more serious and fruitful response” to the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war and called for increased humanitarian assistance to people in Afghanistan.