The Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Hido Biščević, met today with Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, and Ambassador Şanıvar Olgun, Turkish RCC National Coordinator, to discuss future activities of the organization.

Secretary General Biščević informed his Turkish counterparts of the new strategy for the 2011-13 activities of the RCC Secretariat that is currently being finalized. He underlined that, following the initial two years of the organization’s set up and profiling, the focus will in the future shift on concrete project-oriented activities.

The Turkish officials gave full support to the work of the RCC, confirmed necessity to ensure full synergy between the RCC and the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) that Turkey is currently chairing, and a need to streamline regional initiatives to avoid duplication.

The RCC Secretary General also met with representatives of relevant expert departments in the Turkish Government, namely transport, energy and foreign trade, as well as the Turkish Chamber of Commerce to discuss concrete ideas to be included in the new RCC strategy. Representatives of the Chamber of Commerce also supported a closer and more direct involvement of private sector in the RCC work.