Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 15 / Trend, M. Aliyev, A. Akhundov /
The Azerbaijani parliament has today approved the charter of the ECO Trade and Development Bank (ECOBANK).
The bill approving ECOBANK's charter was submitted by head of the parliamentary committee on economic policy Ziyad Samadzade.
Azerbaijan became a shareholder of the bank with a three percent equity stake last year.
Samadzade said that the opportunities of Azerbaijan's participation in the organization will expand in the future.
Azerbaijan plans to allocate $9.7 million SDR (at the exchange rate of 1.55 USD / SDR) to pay for its share in the bank's capital. Around 2.5 million Manat (about $3.2 million) were envisaged in the state budget of the country for this purpose as of 2012.
The bank currently has 10 members, including Azerbaijan. Its authorized capital is $1.5 billion.
The Trade and Development Bank of the Economic Cooperation Organization was founded by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey in 2005. The company's headquarters is located in Istanbul.
One ECO unit corresponds to one SDR.