Its member states include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro.

The countries that signed and ratified the SECI agreement were Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Turkey.

The SECI was formed in 1996 under the guidance of Ambassador Richard Schifter, at the time the Senior Director for Eastern Europe in the United States National Security Council.

The Participating states requested then OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Swiss Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti, to designate, after appropriate consultations, the High-Level Personality (HLP) referred to in the Statement of Purpose.

The SECI was originally composed of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia.

Yugoslavia's invitation was revoked after the country cancelled local election results when a minority party won the popular vote, eventually being allowed in as Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia and Croatia originally agreed to join but only as observer nations.

Furthermore, SECI attempts to emphasize and coordinate regionwide planning, identify needed follow-up and missing links, provide for better involvement of the private sector in regional economic and environmental efforts, help to create a regional climate that encourages the transfer of know-how and greater investment in the private sector, and assist in harmonizing trade laws and policies.

SECI Member states are: Austria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Turkey.

The principal SECI goals are: elimination of administrative and other obstacles with a view to increasing efficiency in the flow of goods and improved trade, identification of bottlenecks at main international traffic corridors, creation of networks and zones of energy efficiency, investing in the promotion of networks of pipelines and their connections with international pipelines, provision of funds for the promotion of entrepreneurship, primarily through projects of small and medium-sized enterprises, etc.