ISLAMABAD, NOV 28 /DNA/ – Pakistan has been elected as the chair of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Council of Ministers (COM) for the term 2026-27, read a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Friday.
The development came during the 29th COM meeting, attended virtually by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar.”The Foreign Ministers of ECO member states congratulated Pakistan on assuming the chairmanship. [DPM Dar] thanked them for their felicitations and support, and said he looked forward to working with them and welcoming all ECO members to Pakistan for the next COM meeting in 2026,” the FO said in a post on X.
In his address to the meeting, DPM Dar said that Pakistan was committed to the ECO Vision 2025, stressing ECO’s role in fostering prosperity, economic integration, and connectivity.
He assured the participants that Pakistan would work closely with member states in finalising the ECO Vision 2026-2035.DPM Dar emphasised Pakistan’s priority to strengthen multimodal transport corridors, harmonise customs frameworks, and align transport systems for seamless regional integration.
He said that Pakistan was committed to operationalising regional connectivity projects, including the Islamabad–Tehran-Istanbul Rail Corridor, the Eurasian Multimodal Corridor, as well as new railway initiatives linking Central Asia with Pakistan via Afghanistan.
Highlighting Pakistan’s efforts to shape regional cooperation in transport and digital connectivity, he said that the country’s liberalised visa policy enabled easier access for businesspersons and tourists from 126 countries.
DPM Dar urged ECO member states to deepen cooperation in sustainable transport, customs harmonisation, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
He also stressed for joint efforts to combat terrorism, threatening regional economic progress.
DPM Dar congratulated Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev for successfully hosting the ECO-COM meeting, while extending an invitation to the members to attend the 30th meeting, scheduled in Pakistan next year.
