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The Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) is an inter-governmental regional organization established in 1985 by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Türkiye for promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation. It is the successor organization of the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD). In 1992, the organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Since its establishment, the ECO member states have been collaborating to accelerate the pace of regional cooperation and development through the implementation of joint programmes and projects in areas like energy, infrastructure, trade, transport, manufacturing, agriculture, communications and human resource development. The ECO Trade and Development (ETDB) was established as a Multilateral Development Bank for the purposes of initiating, promoting and providing financial facilities to expand intra-regional trade as well as accelerating economic development.

The Articles of Agreement establishing the ETDB became effective on August 3, 2005 following the parliamentary approvals of the founding members of the Bank which are the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Türkiye. The United Nations (UN) registered the Articles of Agreement on May 19, 2008 under the number 44939, acknowledging the international legal status of the Bank.

The Headquarters Agreement of the ETDB was ratified by the Republic of Türkiye in July 2007 and the Bank started its operations in December 2008. Its headquarters is in Istanbul (Türkiye) and representative offices are in Karachi (Pakistan) and Tehran (Iran). The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan became the member of the ETDB at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 respectively. The Kyrgyz Republic became the last member of the ETDB by signing the “Articles of Agreement" establishing the ETDB on 12 February 2015.

The vision of the ETDB is to become the financial pillar of economic cooperation among all ECO member states by fostering sustainable development and integration. Thus; the other ECO member countries are highly regarded and furthermore would be greatly welcomed into the fold.


What is the Mandate of the ETDB?

The ETDB was established to bring new dynamism to the economic development and cooperation in the ECO region by providing financial support and technical expertise to development projects as well as the expansion of intra-regional trade within the ECO region.

The main functions and activities of the ETDB inter alia include:

• Financing development projects and intra-regional trade activities
• Facilitating private and public sector investments
• Cooperating with national and international financial institutions
• Mobilizing resources and providing other banking services as may be necessary for the advancement of its purposes


What is the Amount of Capital of the ETDB?

The unit of account of the ETDB is ECO Unit (EU), which is equivalent to one Special Drawing Right (SDR) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The authorized capital of the Bank is SDR 1,089,100 thousand.