Among the strategic vectors of the foreign policy of Turkmenistan is its wide and multi-format interaction with the UN and other international and regional organisations, aimed at using the joint potential in the interests of the sustainable development of all countries. Since 1992, Turkmenistan has been a member of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), a regional association that also includes Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In March 2021, at the 14th ECO Summit, the chairmanship passed to Turkmenistan. As the President of Turkmenistan noted in his speech at the forum, our country regarded that as a responsible and high mission, and in the developed Conception, it had determined priority areas to which special attention would be paid.

In the history of modern Turkmenistan, the Economic Cooperation Organisation has played a very important role. On March 14, 1995, the 3rd summit of the ECO member states was held in Islamabad and the well-known Islamabad Declaration was adopted. In it, the participating countries welcomed the statement of Turkmenistan on the proclamation of neutrality and expressed their readiness to fully support Turkmenistan in that intention. Following the ECO countries, the choice of Turkmenistan was supported by other states. The fact that the idea of neutrality was put forward in Islamabad had a logical reason: Turkmenistan, first of all, had to enlist the support of its immediate neighbours before its appeal to the world community.