On 12 August 2019, secretaries-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Economic Cooperation Organisation had a constructive conversation in Turkmenbashi. Vladimir Norov's meeting with Hadi Soleimanpour on the sidelines of the First Caspian Economic Forum speaks for a great interest of both organisations in the Caspian region and in promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between the two organisations.
During the constructive conversation, Vladimir Norov informed his counterpart about the SCO's activities and shared the Organisation's long-term plans in follow-up to the Bishkek summit in June 2019. The Secretary-General also expressed willingness to cooperate with the ECO in economic, cultural and humanitarian affairs.
The head of the ECO noted that the forum's international platform contributes not only to transforming the Caspian region into one of the world's largest transit hubs but also to cooperation between international institutions through building a positive dialogue in trade and investment.
The parties agreed to diligently promote matters of mutually advantageous cooperation, including by developing an action plan for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the organisations' secretariats in 2007.
The Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) is a regional inter-state economic organisation founded in 1985 by Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The ECO is the successor of the Organisation for Regional Cooperation and Development, which operated under the Charter, or the Treaty of Izmir, signed by three founding states, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, on 12 March 1977. In 1992 Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan joined the ECO.