We welcome the formal approval of Turkey’s membership to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting yesterday in New York.

Turkey attaches great importance to developing relations with the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region pursuant to its multidimensional foreign policy. Turkey’s maturing outreach strategy towards the LAC region aims at elevating its bilateral relations with the countries of the region to the highest level in all areas and the establishment of institutional ties with regional organizations.

The main objective of ECLAC, one of the five regional commissions established by ECOSOC, is to contribute to the development of Latin American countries and to harmonize their economic policies. Since its foundation in 1948, ECLAC has made significant contributions to the industrialization and inclusive growth of the region with the strategies it has pursued for the development of Latin America.

Turkey applied for membership to ECLAC during the visit of H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Chile on 1 February 2016. Turkey’s application was accepted at the meeting of the Committee of the Whole of ECLAC, which was held on 30 January 2017.