ECO convenes in Khankendi: Azerbaijan reaffirms leadership in region

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 4. The 17th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit starts today in the Azerbaijani city of Khankendi. Holding this key meeting in Azerbaijan for the third time confirms the country's growing role as a strategic hub for transport, logistics, and energy ties between the region's states. The Summit will be an important milestone on the way to deepening economic integration and political interaction among ECO member states.

The Summit will bring together ECO Heads of State and Government, ministers, observers, special guests from countries outside the organization, as well as heads of international structures. The main objective of the meeting is to develop joint solutions to achieve sustainable development and prosperity of the region through strengthening economic integration, especially relevant in the context of global geopolitical instability.

ECO Week as an indicator of the scale of interaction.

The peculiarity of this summit was the organization of a large-scale and inclusive ECO Week in Azerbaijan, within the framework of which were held:

- ECO Youth Forum on July 1 in Aghdam;
- ECO Women's Forum on July 2 in Lachin;
- The 6th ECO Business Forum was held on July 2 in Fuzuli with the participation of business leaders and investors.

ECO Secretary General Asad M. Majid Khan noted in an interview with Trend that thanks to the initiative and leadership of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a whole week of ECO events with the participation of a wide range of stakeholders is being held for the first time this year. “All these events are aimed at forming a common ECO development strategy for the next decade,” he emphasized.

Azerbaijan as a strategic transportation and energy hub

Asad Majid Khan also noted that Azerbaijan traditionally plays an important and active role in the organization's activities. The official launch of the ECO Clean Energy Center, the establishment of which has already been approved and ratified by a number of member countries, is planned within the framework of the current summit. “This will give the summit a special significance,” he emphasized, "especially in the current conditions of serious geopolitical transformations, creating the need for a personal meeting of the region's leaders to exchange views and determine further guidelines for the ECO work.

The organization unites 10 countries of South and Central Asia and the Middle East, covering a huge economic and demographic potential. Azerbaijan, being a full member of ECO since 1992, due to its unique geostrategic position in the South Caucasus region at the crossroads of international East-West and North-South transport corridors, plays the role of a connecting link between the member countries.

In particular, major infrastructure projects such as:

- Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK), connecting Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye, provides reliable land access to European markets, reinforcing the country's role as a transportation bridge between East and West;

- Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, creating the basis for energy security and exports of Azerbaijani gas;

- Alat International Sea Trade Port, turning Azerbaijan into the main logistics hub of the Caspian region.

All these projects not only strengthen Azerbaijan's position in the ECO but also make a significant contribution to the development of transportation and energy infrastructure in the Eurasian space.

A special role is played by the development of the Middle Corridor passing through Azerbaijan and connecting China and Europe, as well as the formation of the Caspian Green Energy Corridor connecting Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to transport green energy and achieve climate goals.

In addition, the Lapis Lazuli project creates a transportation corridor that will connect the city of Torghundi in Afghanistan's Herat province to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, then to the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi, a new port in Alat (Azerbaijan), Tbilisi and Ankara with branches to Poti and Batumi, and from Ankara to Istanbul. Thus, Azerbaijan becomes an integral part of this multilevel route, opening access for Central Asian countries to European markets.

Results of Azerbaijan's chairmanship in ECO

Meanwhile, during Azerbaijan's chairmanship of ECO in 2023, notable progress was achieved in key areas. Thus, the 9th meeting of the ECO Council of Heads of Customs Administrations (CHCHA) was held in Baku, where progress was made on several issues, including:

- preparation for the launch of the ECO Anti-Smuggling and Customs Offenses Database;
- development of an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system;

- Finalization of the Agreement on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters;
- Identification of capacity-building needs in the area of customs cooperation.

Significant growth of trade turnover

An important indicator of the effectiveness of cooperation between Azerbaijan and ECO countries is the growth of trade turnover. The volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and ECO member countries amounted to $3.5 billion in the period from January through May of the current year.

According to Trend's calculations based on the data of the State Customs Committee, this figure increased by $328 million, or 10.2 percent, compared to the same period of 2024. Thus, in January-May 2024, the volume of trade turnover between Azerbaijan and member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) amounted to $3.2 billion.

The table below shows the volume of trade operations conducted between Azerbaijan and ECO member countries from January through May of the current year in thousand US dollars.

In particular, only one of the ECO member countries (Turkey) was among the main countries to which Azerbaijan exported crude oil during the reporting period of the current year. During this period, 34,800 tons of crude oil worth $16.9 million were exported to Turkey.

At the same time, the main countries to which Azerbaijan exported non-oil products were the three ECO member countries (Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan). Thus, non-oil products worth USD 251.4 million were exported to Turkey, $44.8 million to Kazakhstan, and $19.3 million to Uzbekistan.

This significant trade turnover confirms the dynamic development of Azerbaijan's economic ties with ECO partners.

Thus, the ECO summit in Khankendi opens a new page in the development of economic cooperation in the region, strengthening Azerbaijan's position as a strategic center of transport, energy, and logistics corridors. The Summit and ECO Week demonstrate the determination of the ECO Member States to jointly build a prosperous, interconnected, and sustainable future, where Azerbaijan plays one of the key roles.