Tehran Communiqué | Organization For Investment, Economic & Technical Assistance of Iran

Tehran Communiqué

Working Group Meeting on Global Financial Crisis: Lessons Learned and Experiences Gained by ECO Member States
(Tehran, 24 February, 2010)

1. The Working Group Meeting on Global Financial Crisis: Lessons Learned and Experiences Gained by ECO Member States was held in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 24 , 2010. The meeting was inaugurated and chaired by H.E. Dr. Seyyed Shamseddein Hosseini, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. High level delegates including Deputy Ministers, Heads of Central Banks, Chambers of Commerce and senior officials of the Ministries of Finance and Economy of all the ECO Member States attended the Meeting. The representatives of the Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the ECO Trade and Development Bank and the Future Bank also attended the meeting.

2. The three Panels comprising delegates from the Economic Affairs and the Finance Ministries, Central Banks and Chambers of Commerce and Industries of the ECO Member States were constituted for the meeting. The panel meetings were chaired by H.E. Dr. Behrouz Alishiri, Deputy Minister and President of Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance, Dr. Abolhassani, Deputy Finance Minister for Banking, Insurance and Public Institutions Affairs, and Dr. Nahavandian, Head of Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

3. The delegates, recalling decisions of the 10th ECO Summit (Tehran, March 2009), the 3rd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Finance and Economy (Tehran, December 2008), and the 1st Meeting of the ECO Heads of Central Banks of ECO Member States (Karachi, April 23-24, 2007) further agreed to adopt following course of action to intensify cooperation among the ECO Member States:-

1. Noted that sustainable recovery in the global economy will take time and volatality and uncertainity will accompany the global economy in the short to medium term.

2. Also noted that the competition for liquidity will be high in international markets as there will be huge budget deficits in several economies especially in major economies of the world.

3. Reiterated their commitments to promote cooperation in the key areas of economic and financial management, including banking, taxation, audit and corporate law, and to facilitate achieving the aims and objectives of the organization in related areas;

4. Called for speedy progress towards the implementation of ECO Trade Agreement, Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investment Agreement on Establishment and Operation of ECO Smuggling, Customs Offences Data Bank, Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters and Agreement on Visa Facilitation for Businessmen and Transit Drivers;

5. Welcomed the financial instruments and products introduced by the ECO Trade and Development Bank, and recommended that the resources allocated for Banks trade finance facility be further enlarged to have a region wide impact and help importers/exporters of the region;

6. Underlined the need for collaboration among the larger banks and financial institutions to establish an ECO Joint Investment Fund to be utilized against unforeseen situations emerging in the international markets. In this regard, ECO Secretariat, ECO Trade and Development Bank and ECO Chamber of Commerce and Industry shall prepare the draft proposal and circulate among the Member States for their views/comments;

7. Stressed for prudent investment policies to attract quality investments especillay FDI and encourage joint ventures among Member Countries in key areas. The meeting suggested for creation of a more secure environment for trade and investment activities among the Member States;

8. Called for collective efforts for enhancing competitiveness of the economies of the Member States especially in developing high-tech, high value added products, investing in human capital, R&D, skill development, design, branding, industrial cluster development and joint publicity and marketing campaigns;

9. Emphasized the need for Member States for putting in place appropriate instruments for regular monitoring of their fiscal and monetary regimes and called for enhanced cooperation in the design and implementation of the supervisory and regulatory mechanisms for a sound macro-economic environment and suitable investment climate.

10. Stressed on facilitating public-private partnerships to accelerate economic activity, finance investments and generate employment opportunities;

11. Recommended the Member States to utilize Islamic finance, instruments/interest free banking/efficient financial mechanism to minimize effects of possible crisis and share experiences in this regard. The issue may further be elaborated in relevant ECO meetings;

12. Underlined the importance of enhancing regional trade to ward off negative effects of the crisis and stressed upon for early operationalization of ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA);

13. Agreed to set up required mechanisms and prepare legal and regulatory grounds among themselves in order to create the environment for implementation and expansion of electronic trade among and this way facilitate commercial and trade transportations, paving the way for the influential role of private sector;

14. Underlined the need to expedite establishment of ECO Forums of the Investment Promotion Agencies, Tax Administrations and Stock-Exchanges;

15. Called for better coordination and supervision on the progress of the work, as well as preparing progress report of the decisions made, to be submitted to the next ECO Ministerial Meeting on Finance and Economy and the ECO Heads of the Central Banks, ECO Secretariat shall follow-up the issues with the relevant bodies and report to relevant ECO meetings;

16. Reiterated the need for representatives of ECO Member States at the International Financial Institutions such as IMF, World Bank, ADB and IDB and alike to form a Contact Group for regular meetings and cooperation on issues of interest to the ECO region;

17. Urged for active participation of the Member States in all the ECO initiatives and institutions to ensure effective regionalism and initiation of activities for efficient removal of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs);

18. Requested the Member States to develop regular mechanisms of exchange of experiences and data sharing for the researchers and experts to formulate suitable proposals for their organizations;

19. Welcomed the cooperation between OPEC Fund for International Development and the ECO Secretariat for exchange of experiences and formulating joint programmes and requested OFID to consider projects prepared by the ECO Secretariat;

20. Reiterated the need for regular organization of seminars and specialized training courses by the Member States on financial and monetary issues;

21. The Heads of Delegations expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for extending warm hospitality to the delegates and arrangements for the meeting in the beautiful city of Tehran. The Heads of Delegations also thanked the ECO Secretariat for the preparations it made for the success of this meeting.

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