According to the Public Relations and International Affairs Department of Kish Free Zone Organization, Kish Free Trade Zone and the ECO Cultural Institute Joint Cooperation Office officially was launched on Thursday with an approach to strengthen cultural cooperation, especially in the international tourism field on the island.

The ceremony was attended by the Managing Director of Kish Free Zone Organization Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, ECO Cultural Institute’s head Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri, KFZO Deputy for Cultural and Social Affairs Saeed Pour Ali, the Ambassador of Turkmenistan Ahmad Qorbanov, the Ambassador of Pakistan Rafat Massoud, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan Askhat Orazbai, and a group of Kish officials.

Dr.  Mozaffari pointed to the Economic Cooperation Organization’s cultural discourse as a major contribution to joint activities with Kish Island, adding that ECO's spiritual credibility in holding events is a valuable potential for Kish Island "Through interaction with the ECO countries, we can use regional and global capacities to develop and strengthen the international tourism and tourism industry in Kish Island", he said.

He pointed to literature, sports, library, peace, and family as other fields of cooperation between Kish Free Zone Organization and Eco, and added, "Strengthening joint cooperation in all cultural spheres is considered and planned based on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Institute and Kish Free Zone Organization."

Establishing Kish Air flights to the capital of the countries of the ECO region and organizing cultural nights of the member states of the organization in Kish were also considered as appropriate steps for the development of tourism.

Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an inter-governmental regional organization encompassing countries from Europe, Caucuses and Central Asia, Middle East and South Asia with more than 460 million inhabitants and over 8 million square kilometers connecting Russia to the Persian Gulf and China to Europe. The overall objective of the Organization is the sustainable economic development of its Member States and the Region as a whole.

ECO was the successor organization of what was the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), founded in 1964, which ended activities in 1979. In 1985 Iran, Pakistan and Turkey joined to form the ECO. By the fall of 1992, the ECO expanded to include seven new members; Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The date of the expansion to its present strength, 28 November, is referred to as "ECO Day". The status and power of the ECO is growing.

ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) is affiliated with ECO and aims at fostering understanding and the preservation of the rich cultural heritage of its members through common projects in the field of the media, literature, art, philosophy, sport, and education.

PR & Int'l Affairs Department- KFZO