Economic diplomacy in the twenty-first century is defined as the linker of power and wealth, a tool to facilitate foreign trade, attract foreign direct investment, and enhance international influence to secure national interests, playing an intermediate role between bilateral and multilateral diplomacy at the regional level. Despite the extensive capacities of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in terms of population, geopolitical position, and transportation networks, its economic integration remains highly limited, and the share of intra-regional trade within ECO is negligible compared to the European Union and ASEAN. An econometric analysis based on a gravity model for the period 2010 to 2016 indicates that gross domestic product, population, contiguity, and access to the sea have a positive effect on exports, while distance and sanctions exert a negative effect; however, the variable "number of ambassadors and consuls," representing economic diplomacy, was insignificant, highlighting the inefficiency of diplomatic mechanisms. The primary drivers of this failure include the absence of an upstream policy and codified document, the apathy and confusion of ambassadors, a shortage or weakness of commercial attaches, dysfunctional relations between ambassadors and attaches, difficulties in interacting with merchants and chambers of commerce, the intrusion of security institutions into the economy, conflicts between diplomatic and economic priorities, and private sector weaknesses. The core proposed strategy is formulating a strategic document for economic diplomacy at a level higher than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine objectives, priorities, institutional coordination, and the reduction of parallel operations.