The Foreign Office (FO) said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the 17th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) in Khankendi, Azerbaijan from July 3-4.

In a statement today, the FO said the prime minister will “share Pakistan’s perspective on key regional and global challenges, reaffirm Pakistan’s commitment to the ECO Vision 2025, and advocate for enhanced intra-regional trade, transport connectivity, energy cooperation, and sustainable development”.

He will also hold bilateral meetings with other ECO leaders on the sidelines of the summit to discuss matters of mutual interest, the statement added.

The theme of the summit is ‘New ECO Vision for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Future’.

The 16th ECO summit was held from November 9, 2023, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and attended by then-caretaker prime minister Anwarul Haq Kakar.

According to a statement by ECO, the summit will convene ECO heads of states/governments, ministers, observers, special guests from non-ECO countries and heads of international organisations to achieve development and prosperity through fragile economic integration.

The summit will feature a “dynamic and inclusive ECO Week”, held from July 1–4 across multiple cities in Azerbaijan. The ECO week will include a series of thematic forums aimed at advancing youth engagement, gender inclusion and economic connectivity within the region.

In December, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had signed a charter for research into clean and renewable energy sources at the ECO’s 28th Meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The ECO Clean Energy Centre charter focused on research and development for innovative renewable clean energy sources to combat climate change.

The charter also contributed to the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres in the framework of the UN Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.

The foreign minister had also urged member states to ensure the effective implementation of the ECO Trade Agreement to help strengthen regional security and economic prosperity through intra-regional trade.