DUSHANBE, March 10, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik Culture Minister Mirzoshorukh Asrori will attend the next meeting of culture ministers of member nations of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) that will take place in Afghanistan from March 12-15, according to the Ministry of Culture (MoC).

The source at a MoC says the meeting aims to discuss issues related to strengthening of cultural ties between the peoples of the region.

The Economic Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states.  It was the successor organization of what was the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), founded in 1964, which ended activities in 1979. In the fall of 1992, the ECO expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

It provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities.  The ECO is an ad hoc organization under the United Nations Charter.  The common objective is to establish a single market for goods and services.  ECO''s secretariat and cultural department are located in Tehran, its economic bureau is in Turkey and its scientific bureau is situated in Pakistan. The organization''s population is 416,046,863 and the area is 8,620,697 km².