The burgeoning collaboration between OIC and ECO came under focus in the message of Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to the 11th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which concluded its proceedings in Istanbul, Turkey on 23 December 2010. Recalling that the total ECO Gross Domestic Product was 30% of the OIC GDP, the Secretary General enumerated the latest OIC programmes aimed at the socio-economic development of ECO member-countries. He specifically mentioned the Special Programme for the Development of Central Asia, the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Iran Railway Project, and the proposed construction of the Dushanbe-MazariSharif-Herat railway as examples of the recent areas of collaboration with member-states of ECO. On the global partnership for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the Secretary General reiterated the commitment of the OIC, in its capacity as member of the International Contact Group on Afghanistan, to scale up its participation in the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA). The Summit was attended by Heads of State and Government of eight ECO member-states, while Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were represented at the level of Deputy Minister and Ambassador respectively. The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and representatives of the Syrian President and Emir of Qatar attended as special guests. The representative of the OIC Secretary General at the Summit was Ambassador Hameed A. Opeloyeru, Assistant Secretary General Economic Affairs.
