Read on Pakistan Cyber Force Facebook PageAlhamdulillah, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member countries have finally decided to enforce much awaited Transit Transport (and trade) Framework Agreement (TTFA) by launching a Truck Caravan, which started on Thursday, 23rd of September, 2010. It will move across the region and terminate at Istanbul, Turkey after passing through Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
A symbolic send off ceremony was held in Islamabad on Wednesday 22nd of September, 2010 and many top class businessmen and dignitaries attended it. Being initiative of Pakistan, it was decided that
the Caravan will be launched from Pakistan and the Trucks of all Member States (One from each) including Pakistan will assemble in Quetta.Truck Caravan is being jointly organized by ECO Secretariat in Tehran and International Road Transport Union (IRU). The Transit Trade Framework Agreement (TFTA), to provide access to land-locked countries, was signed among the 10 member states more than a decade ago for road, rail and inland water transportation in a bid to boost trade and social activities in the ECO region.
Pakistan being the pioneer member of the ECO is a strong advocate for promoting transit and transport links among the ECO member countries specifically for the landlocked Central Asian States and Afghanistan.The TTFA lays down a comprehensive roadmap for establishing functional transit links across the region, will provide a way forward for
linking the five Central Asian States namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan through road with the Ports of Pakistan and surely contribute to streamlining the transport operations and services. The TTFA will boost trade activities coupled with social links in the region as the member countries have already enhanced regional cooperation in areas such as trade, industry, transport & communications, energy and information technology.
The need for cooperation among the ECO member countries is also reinforced by the common challenges faced by them. Besides the latest despicable Islamo-Phobic acts by the zionist powers, these challenges include poverty, degradation of environment, food scarcity, threat of terrorism and extremism, narcotics trade, threat of epidemic diseases and the impact of global financial crisis.Over the years Pakistan has made steady progress towards improving potential trade and transit links through up-gradation of national transport infrastructure and establishment of functional region-wide transit corridors.
This up-gradation has provided a viable option to the Central Asian Republics for transit links.Considering the importance of sea port access to the landlocked countries and the fact that these road connections would provide shorter route to these States, Pakistan has planned to develop a new National Trade Corridor (NTC) linking upcountry in North with Ports in southern cities of
Karachi and
Gawadar in order to reduce travel time and operating costs.
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| A Turkish Trade Ship sailing at Gawadar Sea-Port |
Transit transport will enhance social links among the ECO countries as well as they have interacted over the centuries through the fabled Silk Route.
The route facilitated not just traders and invaders but also philosophers, saints, thinkers and artisans. This interaction was intense and spread over several centuries. As a result, today, the people of the region share religious, spiritual, cultural, linguistic and ethnic commonalities.
These commonalities are even more pronounced in case of Pakistan. Our religious undercurrents, cultural traditions, language and even cuisine have predominantly Central Asian roots. The historic cross currents of ideas, civilization and culture among the ECO countries had been innately strong.Under the colonial rules of British in South Asia and some seventy years of Soviet control of Central Asia the interaction among the countries in the region was assiduously curtailed but remained intact symbolically by travel, trade, migration and even conquest.
The Silk Route, both physically and in terms of ideas, put down idle but the inherent regional similarities could not be eliminated as the effects of shared millennia of history could not be reversed by the antics of the Great Game.Scope and potential exist in the region offer inter-regional economic and political activity for the nations in the area.
The population of Central Asian States (CARs) is only 65 million but they are extremely rich in energy resources and other raw materials, such as gold, uranium, iron and non-ferrous metals.Central Asia has
150 billion barrels of crude oil and almost 1234 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and Pakistan affords a ready market for these resources.
Over the years Pakistan has made steady progress towards improving potential trade and transit links through up-gradation of national transport infrastructure and establishment of functional region-wide transit corridors. This up-gradation has provided a viable option to the Central Asian Republics for transit links.
Gawadar seaport is a significant project in this regard. Future trade patterns envision substantial cargo from CARs and Afghanistan. Gawadar’s role in oil transportation across the regions is also envisaged.Karakoram Highway (KKH), built with the assistance of our great friend China, affords access to Central Asia through China.
A Quadrilateral Agreement for Traffic in Transit brings together Pakistan, China, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan through KKH. Pakistan is also pursuing import of
hydroelectricity and natural gas from Central Asia. We have credible international backing for the two projects.
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| E.C.O states at the center of the globe |
The ECO member states, which include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have declared their intention to make improvements in the regional transportation and communications infrastructure by signing TTFA. It is good effort to boost trade and commerce activities but there are many hurdles to enforce the TTFA in letter and spirit.
An inadequate regional transport infrastructure has always been the major obstacle to implement the TTFA as links among the members are poor, and even existing networks are in disrepair. For example,
as much as 60 percent of the road and bridge system in war-ravaged Afghanistan is in need of replacement. Many observers say ECO is unlikely to thrive until a comprehensive infrastructure is in place.
ECO’s vision for the development of transport and communications networks was first outlined in Ashgabat Declaration of 1997, which called for the formation of a permanent commission to oversee infrastructure improvements.
The document called for the creation of a network of roads, railways and ports that would make ECO goods easily exportable via shipping hubs in Iran, Pakistan and Turkey.Subsequently, ECO established a program of action that began in 1998 and runs through 2007. The program outlines
12 objectives to stimulate trade and facilitate the movement of
goods from landlocked regions to existing ports include the construction of a Trans-Asian railway; development of better border customs facilities; the establishment of a common postal area; the development of a Transit Transport Framework Agreement; the creation of an information mechanism to manage inter-state commerce; and the development of an inter-state fiber-optic telecommunications system. Other points in the program call for the publication of studies, along with the convening of regular inter-governmental meetings, aimed at stimulating trade.
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| E.C.O Transit Trade train standing in Tehran, Iran |
In the area of railway development, some progress has been achieved. For example, the
Tejen-Seraks-Mashad railway linking Iran and Turkmenistan, inaugurated in 1996, increases the access of Central Asian states to the ports of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, as well as to Turkish ports on the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
However, other aspects of railway development appear stalled. Under a plan finalized in October 1999, ECO sought to promote rail passenger traffic, the first stage of which would have introduced new service from points in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Iran and Turkey.
The new passenger service was due to begin in early January 2001, but several recent developments have dashed hopes for keeping to the original timetable. The most notable impediments are the continuing civil war in Afghanistan and insurgency in Central Asia.Financial difficulties are additionally discouraging a broadening of service, as underscored by Kazakhstan’s October 18 decision to halt rail traffic from Tajikistan until Dushanbe pays $1.6 million in overdue transit fees.
Similar problems have hampered development of ECO’s shipping capabilities. In 2000,
two multipurpose cargo vessels, leased by ECO, were operating in the Persian Gulf. ECO also had transport ships plying the Caspian Sea. Despite the shipping venture being ECO’s sole profitable project to date, the operation was in danger of being shut down due largely to financial disputes among member states. Some members have yet to fulfill their commitments for contributing to the venture’s capitalization fund.
The lack of follow-up by member states has hampered implementation of other aspects of the program of action. For instance,
the TTFA was supposed to be operational by 2000. The agreement was formulated at the fifth ECO summit in May 1998. But as of mid-2000, only Azerbaijan and Tajikistan had formally ratified the pact.
Similarly, a project to prepare detailed maps of the road networks of ECO member states has not been completed due to Turkey’s reluctance to supply needed data.Another major obstacle to ECO’s infrastructure improvement plans is generated by competition from rival economic development organizations. Indeed,
many ECO states are at the same time members of other economic blocks, including the nascent GUUAM group (comprising Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Moldova) and the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. In addition,
Turkey is exploring membership in the European Union. Such overlap, rather than bringing better focus to ECO projects, serves as a debilitating distraction.
Despite all the difficulties and delays, it is absolutely obvious that the signing of this long delayed agreement at this globally crucial point in time definitely carries a concrete meaning and a hint for those who have read history.
The rise of Islam as a global force is taking place right in front of our very eyes. The despicable incidents like
Draw Muhammad Day, Burn Qur’an day, Attacks on the Freedom Flotilla, Attacks on unarmed Kashmiri citizens, and unmanned aircraft bombardment on the soil of Afghanistan and Pakistan have finally ignited the hearts of Muslim policy makers by making them revert to the ways of their mighty ancestors and adopt unity on the basis of Islam. I see nothing except khair and barakah everywhere in the near future for Islam.
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