The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul trade corridor or ECO trade corridor, which is likely to be opened this year, will help Pakistan export its goods directly to Turkey without any hindrance. The corridor will be later expanded to the European countries. The 5th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Transit Transport Coordination Council (TTCC), was held in Islamabad in May aimed at bringing the ECO countries closer in trade and economic activities, said a source in Ministry of Communications on Wednesday. He said that the ECO provided a unique opportunity of trade development as its member states’ borders stretched from Europe to South Asia and from the shores of Arabian Sea to the Russian borders. Pakistan, he said, had extended transit trade facilities to the land-locked member states of ECO states through its warm water seaports but the benefits of that facility could not be optimized without an efficient road and rail network. The source said that for that reason Pakistan had conceived the National Trade Corridor (NTC) and responsibility of its early construction had been given to the Ministry of Communications. He said that the NTC would provide an efficient and economical road network for inter-regional connectivity, particularly an effective access to Pakistan’s seaports to the ECO member states. Establishment of the road corridor will greatly facilitate the implementation of the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA); an agreement signed a decade ago to facilitate trade and transport among the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization, he said.
