The 28th Meeting of the Regional Planning Council (RPC) was held on 11 December 2017 in Islamabad. The delegates from all the Member States, observers (Turkish Cypriot State and Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States) and the ECO Specialized Agencies and Regional Institutions attended the opening ceremony of the meeting.
In the opening ceremony, after the recitation of the Holy Quran, Secretary General delivered a short welcoming statement. In his statement, Secretary General commended the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for holding this important meeting. The ECO Secretary General highlighted the significance of the “ECO Vision 2025” adopted in 13th ECO Summit, held on March 1st, 2017, in Islamabad. Secretary General also reminded that the 13th ECO Summit tasked the ECO to take necessary and effective measures to achieve the vision targets. He particularly underlined the significance of the ECO`s projects and programs. He also emphasized the importance of the ECO reforms in order to create a more efficient and effective Organization. The ECO Secretary General then invited the Honourable Minister of Planning and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan H.E. Mr. Prof. Ahsan Iqbal for his inaugural statement. In his statement H.E. Prof. Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the importance of multilateral cooperation and the challenges of the region. He stated that no country can face these challenges alone because of their transboundry character.
The Heads of Delegations also made their national statements in the Ministerial segment and shared their views on the future course of actions within ECO, especially in the light of the ECO Vision 20125. Heads/officials of the ECO Specialized Agencies and Regional Institutions also presented their annual reports to the Council.
The Ministerial Council adopted, on the recommendation of the Senior Officials segment, the ECO Work Programme and Calendar of Events for the year 2018 and put forward for its final approval by the ECO Council of Ministers (COM).
In the evening of the 14th December, the “ECO Day 2017” was celebrated in the presence of the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
