The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) will begin working with its member states on short-, medium-, and long-term action plans to implement its Sustainable and Resilient Transport Strategy for 2026–2035, ECO Secretary General Asad Majeed Khan told Trend in an exclusive interview.
"As for the ECO Sustainable and Resilient Transport Strategy 2026–2035, the Strategy envisages a phased implementation process. The Secretariat will soon engage with Member States in developing short-term action plans up to 2028, medium-term action plans up to 2031, and long-term action plans up to 2035", he said.
The strategy also includes an indicative list of transport projects. Member states will determine their priorities, implementation arrangements and potential financing mechanisms, as well as consider additional projects for inclusion.
Khan said that the implementation of the strategy and the Astana Declaration would depend on the availability of feasible projects, stakeholder engagement and financial resources.
"Line ministries in the Member States should take ownership and leadership of the activities. The relevant private sector actors in the ECO Region should also play their key role given the fact that they are the main beneficiaries of this ecosystem," he said.
The ECO is also preparing to hold its first international financing conference for transport corridors and projects in 2027. The event is expected to bring together regional and international financing institutions, development banks, and relevant United Nations regional commissions and programmes.
The ECO Secretary General expressed hope that the conference would help identify reliable financing solutions and mechanisms in cooperation with member states, potential financiers and partners.
He also said that the next ECO Ministerial Meeting on Transport would be held in Ashgabat in November 2027 and would provide an opportunity to review progress in implementing the Astana Declaration. Decisions under the declaration are being followed up through established mechanisms, with some continuing ongoing initiatives and new decisions and agreements to be pursued through existing frameworks.
Speaking about regional connectivity, Khan described Kazakhstan as one of the key ECO countries involved in transport projects and activities. He said the country had strengthened its position as a regional transit hub by improving the performance and interoperability of east-west and north-south corridors.
Particular attention is being given to the Trans-Caspian route and the eastern route of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) through the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor, which is sponsored by the ECO. Kazakhstan is also involved in developing multimodal links, improving freight movement and reducing border-crossing delays.
Kazakhstan is also a key transit country along the new ECO corridor known as KTAP, which connects Kazakhstan with Pakistan through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan.
"Kazakhstan seems seriously committed to early operationalization of this corridor and has reportedly shown readiness to financially contribute to the construction of some missing links between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. When operationalized, the KTAP will add extra capacity to the existing ECO transit network," Khan said.
He added that Kazakhstan had assisted the ECO in two studies: one on the KTI Economic Corridor and another on digital construction and maintenance modelling in railways. The studies are intended to help assess corridor development and improve infrastructure planning. Kazakhstan also played a key role in organizing the first dialogue with the private sector, held alongside the Ministerial Meeting in Astana and focused on digitalization and financing solutions.
Khan described Azerbaijan as a strategic transport and transit hub linking Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Türkiye and European markets.
"Its geographical position on the western shore of the Caspian Sea makes the country particularly important for strengthening east-west as well as north-south connectivity and diversifying regional trade corridors," Khan said.
He said Azerbaijan's ports, railway infrastructure, roads and connections with Georgia and Türkiye facilitated the movement of goods across the Caspian Sea and beyond. Investments in the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Port of Baku at Alat further strengthened the country's position as a regional logistics center, connecting Trans-Caspian shipping with rail networks extending towards Türkiye and Europe.
Azerbaijan also serves as a key transit country along the western route of the INSTC, which connects Russia with Iran and facilitates trade and transport between Northern Europe, the South Caucasus and South Asia, Khan said.
He added that Azerbaijan's contribution to regional connectivity also included improving transport infrastructure, simplifying customs procedures, harmonizing transit regulations and promoting multimodal transport. These measures could reduce transit times and costs, strengthen supply-chain resilience, and encourage trade and investment among ECO member states.
On cooperation with Azerbaijan, Khan said the ECO framework covered the development of transport links, trade facilitation and transit connectivity.
"Key priorities include developing transport corridors, improving road and railway networks, simplifying customs procedures, and coordinating cross-border transport policies. Azerbaijan's strategic location between Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Europe makes it an important country for regional and international freight," he said.
He said cooperation also focused on harmonizing transit regulations, improving border-crossing efficiency and promoting multimodal transport. These efforts are pursued through the ECO-UNECE Coordination Committee on the Trans-Caspian and Almaty-Tehran-Istanbul Corridors.
The committee has adopted its 2027–2028 Work Plan and the Istanbul Strategic Framework, which establish priorities for further cooperation on the development of the corridors. Khan said these priorities were in line with Azerbaijan's objectives to strengthen its role in regional and global connectivity.
Digitalization is another area of regional cooperation, according to the ECO secretary general. He said all member states had their own digital agendas, including in the transport sector, and agreed on the need to digitalize transport and transit procedures in their regional interactions.
Among the ongoing initiatives, Khan cited the ECO-IRU two-year action plan for 2026–2027, which sets out joint measures to advance digitalization in the transport sector, particularly at border-crossing points. He also mentioned the proposed establishment of the ECO Digital Transport and Customs Center, an initiative put forward by Uzbekistan.
Khan said that improving the interoperability of transport systems across the region was also among the ECO's priorities. The 14th Ministerial Meeting had reinforced this agenda, with the relevant mandate reflected in the ECO Strategy for 2035 and the Astana Declaration.
"Strengthening cross-border interoperability to facilitate seamless movement of goods and passengers is among the strategic objectives enumerated in the ECO Strategy 2035," he said.
Under the strategy, member states are expected to promote the expansion of interoperable single-window and corridor-management solutions across routes and move towards paperless transit operations based on mutually recognized electronic documents.
Regarding the planned financing conference, Khan said the decision to organize the event had been made at the 13th ECO Transport Ministerial Meeting in Tehran in June 2025, which tasked the ECO Secretariat and the ECO Trade and Development Bank with its preparation. The two institutions have since been working together on the arrangements, while the Astana Declaration reiterated the conference's importance for the region.
The venue has not yet been determined, and the event is tentatively planned for 2027. Consultations with member states and partners are ongoing to finalize the date and location. The ECO expects active participation from multilateral development banks, international financial institutions and development partners.
ECO was founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Türkiye to promote economic, technical and cultural cooperation among its member states. It is the successor organization to Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), which operated from 1964 to 1979. The Treaty of Izmir, originally signed in 1977, serves as the organization's founding document.
On November 28, 1992, seven countries - Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - joined the organization. ECO currently has 10 member states.
The 14th Meeting of Transport Ministers of ECO Member States, held in Astana on October 15, 2026, resulted in the adoption of the ECO Sustainable and Resilient Transport Strategy 2026-2035 and the Astana Declaration.
