Not all ECO members ready for free trade area - ECO secretary general

Not all member states of the Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) are interested in creating a free trade area. Askhat Orazbai, ECO secretary general, expressed such opinion yesterday, October 1, at a press conference on results of the 15th ECO foreign ministers conference, KZ-Today correspondent reports from Astana.

A. Orazbai observed that "there are certain difficulties" on the way of creation of the free trade area. "One of them is the difference between tariffs in different states," - he said.

According to the head of the ECO, "to create favourable conditions to develop regional trade it is necessary to activate the earlier ECO agreement on trade." However, according to A. Orazbai, "only several states will be ready for implementation of the agreement on the free trade area. It is the ECO's founding states: Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey," - he said.