On March 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech at the 14th summit of the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD), attended by a live link. He said Turkey is united and believes it can defeat the novel coronavirus epidemic through regional and international cooperation.

Erdogan said tourism was one of the sectors in the world most affected by the epidemic. Turkey has put in place a series of prevention and control measures to minimize the impact of the outbreak, and the country has now started preparing for 2021, a year in which tourism losses are expected to receive more compensation.

"The OECD trade agreement, which has not been implemented for 17 years, would be very helpful if it could be implemented immediately," Erdogan said. We consider the 'One Belt And One Road' initiative (BRI) proposed by China in 2013 to be important and we will support it on a 'win-win' basis."

Inspired by the historic Silk Road, BRI is an ambitious plan to connect Asia with Africa and Europe through a network of land and sea routes along six corridors to improve regional integration, increase trade and stimulate economic growth.

In addition, he said, "Turkey supports the establishment of a Vision Fund to finance projects under the Vision Document 2025. From now on, our priority is to help establish security and stability in Karabakh and end its 30-year occupation."

Erdogan also urged the speedy implementation of the ECO regional trade agreement and called on all member states to improve relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in all fields and to help them get rid of the unfair treatment they have suffered and lift the US sanctions against Iran.

Turkey, along with Iran and Pakistan, was a founding member of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Organization on Political and Economic Affairs, which was established in 1985. In 1992, the organization admitted seven new members, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Erdogan also noted the importance of Ecobank, an Istanbul-based regional financing agency for trade projects, calling on countries that have not yet become members to join. He stressed that Turkey has made significant progress in infrastructure projects in the field of transportation.