Prime Minister Imran Khan will open the 14th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to be held virtually on Thursday.

The theme of the Summit is "Regional Economic Cooperation in the Aftermath of COVID-19.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will Chair the 14th Summit.

Sharing Pakistan's perspective on COVID-19 challenges, Imran Khan will outline his vision for regional economic development in line with ECO's founding principles of promotion of trade and connectivity.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan is one of the founding members of ECO, in addition to Iran and Turkey.

The Organization was formed in 1985 from the erstwhile Regional Cooperation for Development. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan later joined as members of ECO.

As a founding member, Pakistan actively contributes towards advancement of the goals and objectives of ECO and remains strongly committed to its aims of promotion of effective regional cooperation, with focus on communications, trade, culture and connectivity.