DUSHANBE, November 22, 2012, Asia-Plus -- This year, the Prosecutor-General’s Office of Tajikistan has prevented more than 1,400 corruption-related crimes.

Tajik Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda remarked this here yesterday while delivering a statement at the 2nd Meeting of Heads of Anticorruption Agencies and Ombudsmen of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Member Nations.

“The problem of corruption remains topical in Tajikistan,” said Tajik chief prosecutor.  “This year alone, prosecutors have registered 183 corruption-related crimes and 63 of them are connected with giving bribes to officials.”

A two-day meeting that has brought together heads of anticorruption agencies and ombudsmen from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey is concluding today.  The meeting participants are expected to endorse the Statue of the Regional Center for Cooperation of Anticorruption Agencies and Ombudsmen of the ECO Member Nations (RCCAO).

The RCCAO is established for the purpose of expanding cooperation between the ECO member nations in fighting all forms of corruption and protecting human rights.

The 1st Meeting of Heads of Anticorruption Agencies and Ombudsmen of the ECO Member Nations was reportedly held in Tehran, Iran on May 21-22, 2011.

Meanwhile, the expert group meeting took place in Tehran on January 30-31 this year to finalize the draft Statute of the RCCACO of the ECO member nations.  Hosted by the General Inspection Organization of Iran, the meeting was attended by the delegates of Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey as well as the relevant officials of the ECO Secretariat and the UNODC Office, Tehran.  The meeting was reportedly the first practical action on implementation of the UN Convention on Fight against Corruption.

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. The date of the Organization’s expansion to its present strength, November 28, is being observed as the ECO Day.  The Organization 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.