Speaking on Sunday night after returning from a trip to Turkmenistan to attend the ECO Summit, Ayatollah Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi said, "The presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the founders of ECO had different messages and in this meeting all members of the regional organisation emphasised the need to increase economic relations between member countries".The President said, "The achievements that the Economic Cooperation Organisation has had so far are not enough and greater steps must be taken to develop economic cooperation".Referring to the bilateral meetings with the leaders of the countries participating in the ECO Summit, the President said, "The most important focus of the talks with the Presidents was to use the existing capacities to develop economic and trade relations".Dr Raisi described the developments in Afghanistan as another focus of talks with the heads of state and said, "In our talks, we emphasised the establishment of an inclusive government that can represent all ethnic groups and political groups in Afghanistan, because the establishment of such a government can both provide security for Afghanistan and eliminate its neighbouring countries' concerns".Referring to the meeting and talks with the President of Turkmenistan, the President said, "The central issue in this meeting was the development of economic relations and solving the problem of transit and gas. These issues were resolved and the issue of transit was set to be resolved in such a way that it facilitates connections with different countries".The President noted, "The issue of gas, which was interrupted, was also discussed and eventually led to the conclusion of a contract, and we hope that there will be no concerns in this regard after this".Ayatollah Raisi pointed out, "Our feeling in the meeting with the heads of state was that there are issues between the Islamic Republic of Iran and some countries, many of which were easily resolved during the meetings and talks".The President added, "For example, after a visit to Tajikistan and a meeting with its President, the level of trade and economic relations between Iran and Tajikistan has tripled".Ayatollah Raisi stressed, "Neighbourhood policy of the government has worked and we must continue to insist on continuing to develop relations with neighbouring countries and facilitate the activities of businesspersons and economic activists with these countries politically".Referring to the meeting with businesspersons, traders and economic activists in Turkmenistan, Dr Raisi said, "Economic activists raised their serious problems in this meeting, and in order to solve these problems, concluding a gas contract and solving the transit problem can be suitable conditions for traders and provide merchants in Turkmenistan".