On Thursday, April 4, 2019, the Joint Cooperation Office of the ECO Cultural Institute and Kish Free Zone Organization was opened featuring the presence of Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri, the President of ECO Cultural Institute, Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, the CEO of Kish Free Zone Organization; Mr. Ahmed Gurbanov, Ambassador of Turkmenistan, Ms. Rafat Masoud, Ambassador of Pakistan; Mr. Askhat Orazby, Ambassador of Kazakhstan; Sheikh Ya'qub Shams, Imam Jumah of the Sunnis of Kish Island and a group of local authorities.
According to ECI public relations, speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri pointed to the joint MoU signed between the Kish Free Zone Organization and the ECO Cultural Institute and said: "With the efforts of Dr. Mozafari, the MoU is being realized and considering the fact that the Kish Free Zone is a unique region and ECI has strong potentials to hold international events, this is a very valuable opportunity to work mutually in the areas of culture, art, literature, sports, museum and Geoparks as well as peace and family.
While appreciating the presence of the President of ECO Cultural Institute Speaking, Dr. Mozaffari, CEO of the Kish Free Zone, said: "Opening ECI & KFZO Joint Cooperation Office provides the ground for increased interactions and development of tourism".
"Valuable objectives have been set in ECI charter and the Institute possess fine, diverse potentials. Similarly, Kish Island possess various potentials and is thus, one of the areas that can contribute to the achievement of these goals. We hope the opening of this Office contributes more to realizing the aims and objectives set and promote cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science, sports, arts, tourism, and commerce.
Furthermore, the Ambassadors of Turkmenistan, Pakistan and the Kazakhstan also spoke at this ceremony, appreciating the special efforts made by the ECI President in expanding the scope of activities and cooperation of this international organization both nationally and internationally and expressed their all-out support for his plans and programs in opening ECI-Kish Joint Cooperation Office. The representatives of the member states also thanked the warm welcome by CEO of KFZO and presented proposals for the functions of this office.
The ceremony concluded with the visit of the ECI president and the accompanying ambassadors to different tourist attractions of Kish Island.
It is noteworthy that the establishment of the ECI-Kish Joint Cooperation Office was discussed and approved in late February 2019 at the meeting of Gholam Hossein Mozafari and Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri held at the venue of this international institution to promote cultural exchanges leading to economic growth in the ECO region.