The 10th summit of heads of member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was held Wednesday in Tehran.

The event brought together Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Abdullah Gul of Turkey, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov of Turkmenistan, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov, Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Omurbek Babanov, Chairman of Uzbekistan Senate Ilgizar Sabirov, ECO Secretary General Khurshid Anvar, as well as Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Qatar`s Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani as guests.

Opening the 10th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization, President ILHAM ALIYEV said:

Honorable Mr. President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

Honorable heads of state,

Distinguished heads of delegations,

Dear friends!

First of all, allow me to extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you and declare the 10th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization open.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to our good friend, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for excellent organization of this summit meeting.

Since the 9th summit meeting, our organization has followed a very successful path under the Azerbaijan`s presidency. The organization has managed to strengthen its international positions and intensify integration processes within it.

A number of very important initiatives were advanced, and, today, I can say that the Economic Cooperation Organization is the one enjoying great prestige not only in the region but also around the world.

Today, I want, with great pleasure, to greet and pay my respect to the heads of state attending our meeting as guests. I think the broader our format is the better for all of us.

Over the past few years, the Economic Cooperation Organization has dealt with a number of important problems and solved them. Much attention was paid to regional security issues, which, undoubtedly, should be the focus in the coming years too.

The issues of regional cooperation are being solved, the processes of our integration are strengthening in both bilateral and multilateral formats, and all this creates extra opportunities for each of the member-states.

The work done in energy field has contributed to solving energy security issues. There are very good perspectives and very good opportunities for achieving further progress in transport, humanitarian and other fields.

I would like to especially praise activity of the organization`s Secretariat for the past three years. This activity has been very successful, and I am convinced, it has made its positive contribution to further development of the organization.

According to the agenda, now we should elect a chairman of the 10th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization, and it is my great pleasure to propose Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

I regard your position as a support of this proposal.

Honorable Mr. President, I want to extend to you my cordial congratulations and best wishes on your election as Chairman of the 10th summit meeting, and hand over to you the presidency.

Presiding at the meeting, President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the meeting coincides with the ongoing global changes and stressed the need to combine efforts to weather economic crisis. He also emphasized the importance of expanding economic cooperation, adding there is huge potential in this sphere. Ahmadinejad highly regarded President Ilham Aliyev`s services in expanding ECO`s activity.

Then, Foreign Minister of Iran Manouchehr Mottaki provided information about the 18th meeting of ECO Ministerial Council.

The meeting participants heard the report of Khurshid Anwar, ECO Secretary General. He thanked President Ilham Aliyev for supporting ECO after the 9th summit held in May 2006. Anwar noted decisions adopted at the Baku meeting helped to take more effective actions. Over the past two years, the number of ECO meetings increased 35%.

President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai stressed the importance of joint fight against terrorism and drugs turnover, saying his country needs foreign assistance to this effect.

President Ilham Aliyev told of Azerbaijan`s efforts to develop ECO over the past three years. The Head of Azerbaijan State underscored the need to expand ECO`s activity in order to develop ties among its member countries in a variety of fields, adding it can bring additional benefits to every country. According to Azerbaijani leader, it is necessary to elevate economic ties among member countries to the level of political relations as it is important amidst the global financial crisis.

On Azerbaijan`s efforts to ensure energy and transport security, President Ilham Aliyev said the energy issue is one of priorities today in the world. “Our energy policy must serve interests of our countries,” the President said.

Currently under construction, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will link Europe and Asia, and other countries will benefit from it.

The Head of State emphasized the importance of utilizing economic potential of ECO member countries more effectively. He noted Azerbaijan would continue to play an active role in the organization.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the major obstacle for establishment of peace in region, adding Armenia did not give up its aggressive policy. Azerbaijani leader thanked the countries, which supported Azerbaijan`s fair stance in the international organizations.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari noted the population of ECO member countries is 800 mln people, saying it is important to effectively use this potential. He proposed to expand trade and create a single banking system to reduce impact of the financial crisis.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon stressed that the summit taking place amid the global crisis is very important. He proposed to establish the free trade zone.

President of Turkey Abdullah Gul said effective cooperation within ECO can help to weather the crisis. He stressed the need to coordinate the activity of member countries. Gul noted important steps had been taken to strengthen economic ties since the Baku summit in 2006.

Turkmenistan`s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized the need to enhance cooperation in the energy field.

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Masimov told of the actions taken in Kazakhstan to reduce effects of the global crisis and presented a model proposed by the Kazakhstan government to solve the problem.

First Deputy Premier of Kyrgyzstan Omurbek Babanov said his country prefers regional integration and cooperation with other international organizations.

Chairman of the Uzbekistan`s Senate Ilgizar Sabirov expressed his opinion on improvement of ECO`s activity to achieve the progress of ECO member countries.

Vice-President of Syria Farouk al-Sharaa, President of Iraq Jalal Talabani, Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani were present at the meeting as guests.

President of the United Nations General Assembly Miguel d`Escoto Brockmann called for combining efforts to fight poverty in the world.

Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed his satisfaction over discussing the global financial crisis at the summit meeting.

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The participants decided to hold the next summit meeting in two years in Pakistan. The Tehran Declaration was adopted on the results of the meeting.

The 10th ECO summit meeting ended.

On March 11, President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted an official reception in honor of the heads of state and government.

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