The University of Tehran is hosting the 3 rd biennial international conference on the Persian Gulf which has been warmly welcomed by experts and university professors. The opening of the conference was addressed by Tehran mayor as the manager of an important Asian metropolis and a university lecturer.

Tehran SAMA reported that the biennial conference opened on April 29 at the University of Tehran with Tehran mayor proposing establishment of a new economic cooperation organization for Southwest Asia.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf added that the Persian Gulf region is rich in hydrocarbon resources, but it has been made inefficient due to wide scientific and technological gap with other parts of the world as well as special social and political conditions. He added that the end of the Cold War has seen emergence of new powers and based on available statistics, Asia and the Pacific will account for a higher than 45 percent share in global economy by the end of the second decade of the 21^st century.

The mayor added that all the regional and global players should know that peace and economic cooperation should take precedence over militarism. "We believe that Asia will determine economic, political and security relations in the 21^st century and Southwest Asia is among the most important areas in terms of economic and political clout. Therefore, we need a new economic cooperation organization for Southwest Asia," he added.