From fonudation to the present: Development and impacts of economic cooperation organization

According to the theory of comparative advantages developed by D. Ricardo, free trade encourages international competition and specialization among countries. This in turn provides a more efficient resource allocation and makes possible a rise in the level of world trade. Towards the second half of the 20th century, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed in 1948, and multilateral trade negotiations have continued within the framework of world Trade Organization (WTO), which took the place of GATT. On the other hand, countries sharing the some geography have initiated economic integration movement, in order to liberalize and expand trade among themselves.Along with the globalization processes encompassing the world, developing countries have started to from regional economic integration wiyh the aim of developing their economic potentials and gain competitive strength. One of the regional economic integrations, formed by Near Eastern countries, that share the same geography and that have a common language, religion and cultural background is Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).ECO formed in 1985 has taken the place of Regional Cooperation for Development or shortly RCD which was established by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in 1964.ECO integration, which initially was a cooperation movement between Turkey, Iran and Pakistan has evolved into a regional integration with ten members, covering a large geographical area with a big population, following the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the participation of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.The population of ECO exceeds 350 million and its area is close to 7 million km2 and ECO has rich natural resources. The total petroleum reserves in the ECO area is approximately 138 billion barrels. The total natural gas reserves amount to 46.3 billion cubic meters. ECO area enjoys a strategic position with present petroleum pipe lines longer than 12 thousand kms, refined petroleum pipe lines longer than 9000 kms and natural gas pipe lines close to 20.000 kms. Besides these, the geopolitical position of member countries and the close historical and cultural ties among them, make ECO a candidate for a more powerful economic integration.ECO, which has not been able to make use of its existing potentials due to external and internal problems to be discussed in this thesis, has a chance to became one of the most important integration movements of the world.One of the main reasons for ECO?s limited success, is the continuing political turmoil?s in the region that have their roots in the struggle for hegemony of big world powers. Besides the factor mentioned above, the lack of a common vision with respect to the aim and function of ECO is another reason for the limited success achieved.