The Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the Regional Planning Council (RPC) of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was held on 1-5 March 2015 at the ECO Secretariat in Tehran.
The Meeting was attended by the high level delegations from the ECO Member States as well as the heads of ECO specialized agencies including President of the ECO Cultural Institute.
Annual meeting of the RPC reviews the activities/programs of the organization over the past year and formulates a variety of organizational programs in the fields of trade, industry, agriculture, transportation, energy, and etc.
At the meeting, the ECO specialized agencies will also report on their major activities/ programs projected for the coming year to the representatives of the Member States.
Iftikhar Husain Arif, President of ECI, made a statement at the meeting, in which, he pointed out that the deep historical roots and cultural ties among the ECO nations are the fundamentals of the organization.
He further noted that as stipulated in the Treaty of Izmir - the founding document of the organization - the development of regional cooperation in the fields of economics, culture, science and education and, in particular, "to strengthen the ties between the people of the region's culture and history" are the key objectives of the organization.
Arif added that taking into consideration Treaty of Izmir and its charter, the ECI has made great efforts over the past 18 years through various cultural activities in the Member States, to achieve these objectives. He went on to explain the cultural activities of the Institute in 2015 in the areas of literature, poetry, art, sports, commemoration of prominent cultural figures of the region, exhibitions and various publications.