Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr.27 /Trend R.Zamanov/
Iran has proposed Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states to launch Middle East's first electricity and energy bourse, Reza Riahi, an official with the energy ministry, said on Saturday.
Iran has also declared its readiness to launch a regional energy bourse and a regional electricity market, the Mehr News Agency quoted Riahi as saying.
The IRNA reported in March that Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has proposed drafting an energy charter for the Economic Cooperation Organization,
A new mechanism should be devised for cooperation among the member states in the field of energy, he noted.
He made the remarks during the 3rd meeting of energy and oil ministers of the ECO, which was held in Tehran in March.
The facilitation of trade and financial transactions in the field of energy among the ten ECO member states and the proposal to establish a free trade zone were discussed at the three-day gathering.
ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey that provides a platform to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states.
The organization was expanded in 1992, with seven new members -- Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- joining ECO.
In September 2011, ECO Secretary General Muhammad Yahya Maroofi said that the organization's member states were planning to set up a common market.
Maroofi noted that in 2011, the 10-member organization's share in global trade was around $ 684 billion annually.
"Under the agreement reached by ECO members, the common market should be established by 2015," he said.