After the presence of the Afghan economic delegation in the 17th meeting of the Regional Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Azerbaijan after a four-year delay, economic analysts in an interview with AVA correspondent expressed optimism about the presence of the country's representatives in this meeting and said that Afghanistan will be an active member of the ECO and will play the role of an energy transport corridor in the region when, as a first step, it creates and strengthens domestic economic infrastructure in accordance with global standards.
Publish dateMonday 7 July 2025 - 15:53
Story Code : 321046
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Kabul: The Afghan delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar participated in the 17th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Azerbaijan for the first time last Friday, July 4, after a four-year delay.
The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Islamic Emirate at the ECO summit called on the member countries of the organization to take positive and practical steps to recognize the government of the Islamic Emirate, after Russia.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar stated in this meeting that Russia has recognized the Islamic Emirate as a result of its balanced and economy-oriented foreign policy.
Mr. Baradar stated that Afghanistan plays a vital role in the regional economy and strongly urged ECO members to take more scientific steps to officially recognize the Islamic Emirate system in Afghanistan.
In his speech, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar while announcing Afghanistan’s readiness to host the 18th ECO summit in the future, called for investment by the member countries of this organization in Afghanistan and said: “We believe that the economies of ECO member countries will achieve desired growth when Afghanistan is also an active and dynamic part of this equation.”
The question is, after four years of political and economic isolation, is Afghanistan now on the path to developing relations with the countries of the world? And will the countries of the world recognize the current Afghan government one after another? And finally, what will be Afghanistan’s role in the Economic Community of West Africa (ECO) in the future?
Dr. Sayed Taher Alavi, an economic expert and university professor, said in an interview with AVA: "Regarding whether Afghanistan will be an active member of the ECO regional organization in the future or not, it is a very important issue, and it must be said that this capacity definitely exists for Afghanistan."
While criticizing the performance of the ECO organization, he said: "Basically, the ECO economic organization has not acted as expected, and the potential capacities of regional cooperation that existed and should have flourished are not very visible and have not come to the fore."
Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, Alavi emphasized that as a first step, there is a need to create and strengthen economic infrastructure to promote regional cooperation in the form of ECO in the country; but unfortunately, no significant work has been done in Afghanistan in this regard, and it seems that this matter has been completely neglected for four decades.
According to Mr. Alavi, the most important infrastructure that can promote Afghanistan as an active member of the ECO is the strengthening of transport and transportation projects and programs, which must be built with international standards and criteria.
This university professor believes that Afghanistan, among the countries in the region, does not yet have adequate and acceptable access to railways, and rail transportation is carried out at a very low level, with the exception of work done in the west of the country, such as the Khaf-Herat railway, which also has only two active sections and its third section has not yet been completed.
According to Alavi, Afghanistan cannot be an active member of the ECO without creating the necessary and sufficient transport and transit capacities.
He also stated that considering the realities in the country, it cannot be said that Afghanistan will become an active member of the ECO in the near future.
According to Mr. Alavi, the first condition and prerequisite for exploiting regional economic potential is the existence of the necessary infrastructure in the country so that it can benefit from the regional economic circle (ECO) and achieve economic growth through this.
He emphasized that what is currently preventing Afghanistan from the regional economic caravan is precisely the lack of these domestic standard infrastructures. But Afghanistan can potentially play a key and vital role in this organization; because the country’s geographical location has the capacity to enter into major regional economic programs.
According to Mr. Alavi, Afghanistan is geographically located at a point that can connect Central Asian countries - which have sufficient energy resources - to South Asia and make the growing economies of countries such as India and Pakistan more prosperous.
Alavi assured that Afghanistan can become a corridor for energy transfer and increase cooperation capacities among the countries of the region in the future.
In his opinion, cooperation in transferring energy from Central Asia to South Asia through Afghanistan can also be extended to other economic sectors. Therefore, it can be said that there is sufficient capacity in Afghanistan, but to utilize these capacities, it is first necessary to create appropriate infrastructure and platforms so that the country can play an important role in regional cooperation.
The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Islamic Emirate at the ECO summit called on the member countries of the organization to take positive and practical steps to recognize the government of the Islamic Emirate, after Russia.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar stated in this meeting that Russia has recognized the Islamic Emirate as a result of its balanced and economy-oriented foreign policy.
Mr. Baradar stated that Afghanistan plays a vital role in the regional economy and strongly urged ECO members to take more scientific steps to officially recognize the Islamic Emirate system in Afghanistan.
In his speech, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar while announcing Afghanistan’s readiness to host the 18th ECO summit in the future, called for investment by the member countries of this organization in Afghanistan and said: “We believe that the economies of ECO member countries will achieve desired growth when Afghanistan is also an active and dynamic part of this equation.”
The question is, after four years of political and economic isolation, is Afghanistan now on the path to developing relations with the countries of the world? And will the countries of the world recognize the current Afghan government one after another? And finally, what will be Afghanistan’s role in the Economic Community of West Africa (ECO) in the future?
Dr. Sayed Taher Alavi, an economic expert and university professor, said in an interview with AVA: "Regarding whether Afghanistan will be an active member of the ECO regional organization in the future or not, it is a very important issue, and it must be said that this capacity definitely exists for Afghanistan."
While criticizing the performance of the ECO organization, he said: "Basically, the ECO economic organization has not acted as expected, and the potential capacities of regional cooperation that existed and should have flourished are not very visible and have not come to the fore."
Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, Alavi emphasized that as a first step, there is a need to create and strengthen economic infrastructure to promote regional cooperation in the form of ECO in the country; but unfortunately, no significant work has been done in Afghanistan in this regard, and it seems that this matter has been completely neglected for four decades.
According to Mr. Alavi, the most important infrastructure that can promote Afghanistan as an active member of the ECO is the strengthening of transport and transportation projects and programs, which must be built with international standards and criteria.
This university professor believes that Afghanistan, among the countries in the region, does not yet have adequate and acceptable access to railways, and rail transportation is carried out at a very low level, with the exception of work done in the west of the country, such as the Khaf-Herat railway, which also has only two active sections and its third section has not yet been completed.
According to Alavi, Afghanistan cannot be an active member of the ECO without creating the necessary and sufficient transport and transit capacities.
He also stated that considering the realities in the country, it cannot be said that Afghanistan will become an active member of the ECO in the near future.
According to Mr. Alavi, the first condition and prerequisite for exploiting regional economic potential is the existence of the necessary infrastructure in the country so that it can benefit from the regional economic circle (ECO) and achieve economic growth through this.
He emphasized that what is currently preventing Afghanistan from the regional economic caravan is precisely the lack of these domestic standard infrastructures. But Afghanistan can potentially play a key and vital role in this organization; because the country’s geographical location has the capacity to enter into major regional economic programs.
According to Mr. Alavi, Afghanistan is geographically located at a point that can connect Central Asian countries - which have sufficient energy resources - to South Asia and make the growing economies of countries such as India and Pakistan more prosperous.
Alavi assured that Afghanistan can become a corridor for energy transfer and increase cooperation capacities among the countries of the region in the future.
In his opinion, cooperation in transferring energy from Central Asia to South Asia through Afghanistan can also be extended to other economic sectors. Therefore, it can be said that there is sufficient capacity in Afghanistan, but to utilize these capacities, it is first necessary to create appropriate infrastructure and platforms so that the country can play an important role in regional cooperation.
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