H.E. Mohammed Yahya Maroofi, the Secretary General and Mr. Fatih Ünlü, the Deputy Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) visited the President of the ECO Bank, at the Headquarters Office in İstanbul, on November 5, 2009 in order to exchange the point of views on supporting sustainable economic development and improving intra-regional trade for the ECO region.

It was highlighted at the meeting that “the ECO region with its abundance of natural and human resource offers many opportunities for all member countries to improve their economic and commercial cooperation with each other and their bilateral cooperation will also create spill over effect for further integration of the region”. The integral improvement of transportation and telecommunication facilities for the ECO region have been mentioned as the priority issues to be attained in order to enhance the regional trade as well as the market size for local industries to reap the benefits of the economies of scale.

Underlying the regional importance of the ECO Bank’s operations which provide project, corporate, trade and SME financing facilities for the member countries, it was agreed to work together with the ECO Secretariat for the further accession of the new members to the Bank from the other ECO countries.