A/RES/57/38 3. Notes with satisfaction the adoption of the Islamabad Declaration on Agricultural Cooperation among States members of the Economic Cooperation Organization at the first ministerial meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization on agriculture, held in Islamabad from 23 to 25 July 2002, which lays the groundwork for strengthening food security efforts in the region, expresses its appreciation of the ongoing cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization in preparing a regional strategy for agricultural development and food security for the States members of the Economic Cooperation Organization, and encourages the active participation of the Food and Agriculture Organization in the activities of the Economic Cooperation Organization; 4. Stresses the importance of cooperation between the United Nations system and the Economic Cooperation Organization in promoting the integration of the Economic Cooperation Organization member States into the multilateral trading system, keeping in view the areas of concern of the member States, particularly in the fields of trade, energy, transport, communication and transfer of technology; 5. Takes note of the Istanbul Declaration 2002, adopted at the seventh Economic Cooperation Organization summit, held following the twelfth meeting of the Council of Ministers in Istanbul, Turkey, from 11 to 14 October 2002; 6. Welcomes the holding of the first meeting of the Business Forum, organized with the cooperation and assistance of the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO, which was held alongside the seventh summit as a new mechanism to promote intraregional trade; 7. Takes note of the decision to hold in 2002 the second Economic Cooperation Organization ministerial meeting on energy/petroleum, the first Economic Cooperation Organization ministerial meeting on the environment and the fourth ministerial meeting on transport and communications; 8. Notes with satisfaction the ongoing cooperation between the United Nations Development Programme and the Economic Cooperation Organization under the capacity-building project of the secretariat of the Economic Cooperation Organization; 9. Also notes with satisfaction the increasing cooperation between the Economic Cooperation Organization and the World Trade Organization, and expresses its appreciation of the holding in Bishkek in 2002 of a joint Economic Cooperation Organization and World Trade Organization seminar on regionalism; 10. Notes with appreciation the successful implementation of the ongoing project of the Economic Cooperation Organization and the International Trade Centre on expanding intraregional trade; 11. Welcomes the growing cooperation between the Economic Cooperation Organization and relevant international financial institutions with regard to their financial assistance in the fields of transport, energy and privatization, in particular that of the Islamic Development Bank for the joint projects of the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on the introduction of multimodal transport operations, as well as for the Economic Cooperation Organization project on the interconnection and parallel functioning of power systems within its region; 2