ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: Pakistan has called for reactivating the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) which can serve as a major vehicle of growth for all the countries in region.

“Compared to the ECO, other regional blocs like NAFTA, ASEAN and MERCUSOR have done better and we need to improve our regional economic cooperation via ECO,” said Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Aziz.

Talking to Turkish Ambassador Kemal Gur, who called on him here on Saturday, Aziz said brotherly relations among the ECO countries needed to be enhanced for the economic well-being of their people.

He agreed with the Turkish ambassador that communication linkages, be they air, road or railways, were needed to be improved before any expansion in economic cooperation could take place.

According to an announcement made by the ministry of finance, Aziz also emphasised that bilateral trade between Pakistan and Turkey should be increased manifolds and expressed his dissatisfaction over the current figures of $80 million, given the size of the two economies.

He said Turkey was a window to Europe for Pakistan, and “we need road and rail links via Iran for facilitating trade links between the two countries.”

Pakistan, he pointed out, could also benefit from Turkey’s advancement in the industrial field. He hoped that private sectors of both countries would interact frequently for promoting trade and investment.

Gur also briefed him on finance about the current economic and political situation in Turkey and the Turkish government’s views on major international and national issues.

Aziz appreciated the Turkish government’s handling of economic situation and improvement in macro-economic fundamentals to satisfactory levels.

He informed Gur about the economic reform process that was initiated three years ago in Pakistan and commitment of the present regime to the continuity of reforms.

Aziz expressed satisfaction over the fact that the macro-economic fundamentals of the country had shown a visible improvement over the years because of these reforms. “And this visible improvement is also being acknowledged even by the international credit rating agencies.”