Improving the Border Agency Cooperation
Among the OIC Member States for Facilitating Trade
60
curricula, strengthening capacities of neighbouring countries and collaborating with EU border
management training institutes.
The 9th phase of BOMCA has been running since June 2015, while the practical
implementation started on January 2016, with continuing interventions in the areas of
institutional development, migration governance, mobility and trade facilitation policies, and
capacity building of border and migration authorities. The overall objective for the 9th phase
of BOMCA is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of border management in Central Asia
by introducing advanced elements of BAC.86
Other regional initiatives
Table 7. Other regional initiatives in Asian region
Commonwealth
of Independent
States - CIS
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came into existence in 1991, and in 1993
an agreement was signed on the creation of an economic union based on the free
movement of goods, services, labour force and capital. Currently the CIS brings together
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. From the union of twelve members,
six belong to the OIC.87
Economic
Cooperation
Organization -
ECO
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), an intergovernmental regional organization,
was established in 1985 for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural
cooperation among the member states. The 10 current members are all OIC countries,
namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan,
Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ECO has embarked on several projects in priority
sectors of its cooperation including energy, trade, transportation, agriculture and drug
control.88
Organization of
the Black Sea
Economic Co-
operation - BSEC
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) has diverse areas of cooperation including
customs and trade. The mission is to identify opportunities for cooperation among the
BSEC Member States in the field of customs and consider joint actions towards
harmonising border crossing and customs regulations. BSEC has 12 member countries
and 16 observers. Three OIC countries are members (Albania, Azerbaijan and Turkey)
and two are observers (Egypt and Tunisia) in BSEC.89
South Asian
Association for
Regional
Cooperation -
SAARC
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and
geopolitical organisation of eight countries that are mainly located in South Asia or the
Indian subcontinent. Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the four OIC
countries participating in SAARC, and Iran is an observer. SAARC promotes welfare
economics, developing collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia, and
accelerating socio-cultural development in the region. Cooperation in the field of customs
is one of the main areas of cooperation in trade and economic development. The Group
on Customs Cooperation has been established to facilitate discussions on mutual
administrative assistance in customs matters, Harmonised System, commercial fraud and
capacity building.90
Source Organization websites and documents
8 (accessed 1 June 2016)
8 (accessed 25 February 2016)
8 accessed 25 February 2016)
8 accessed 4 April 2016)
9 accessed 7 April 2016)