Bishkek, Oct. 26, 2023 . / Kabar / . An extended meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states (SCO CHG) was held in Bishkek on Thursday under the chairmanship of Kyrgyzstan.
The meeting was chaired by Akylbek Zhaparov, Chairman of the SCO CHG and Head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan.
He warmly welcomed the participants of the event and noted that since the emergence of COVID-19 the meeting is held in a face-to-face format for the first time.
"The SCO today has emerged as a unique international association for interaction to exchange views and develop mutually acceptable mechanisms in the sphere of security, expand trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
Our Organization is open and in demand, as evidenced by the expansion of the "SCO family," Akylbek Zhaparov said.
He noted that the most important aspect of cooperation should be security issues in the region.
"In order to implement the Decision of the Council of Heads of State "On Improving Mechanisms for Countering Challenges and Threats to the Security of the SCO Member States", active work is under way to harmonize national initiatives on this subject.
In addition, serious attention should be paid to improving the SCO's activities. We have much work to do in amending the charter documents and institutional reform of our Organization.
We believe it is important to work on adopting the relevant decisions and documents on this issue," the chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan added.
Akylbek Zhaparov stressed the need to continue work on strengthening cooperation in trade, production, energy, transportation, investment, finance, agriculture, customs, telecommunications and other areas of mutual interest, as well as the development of technologies in the field of artificial intelligence.
"Unfortunately, the creation of the SCO Development Bank and Development Fund has been discussed for a long time.
These structures, in our vision, would provide direct assistance in the implementation of joint projects and further gradual increase in the share of national currencies in mutual settlements of the SCO member states.
Despite the positive growth dynamics, trade and economic interaction of the Kyrgyz Republic with the SCO countries, which has a very high potential, has not yet been fully realized, which requires further measures to deepen trade relations," the head of the Kyrgyz delegation said.
Further, Zhaparov outlined the vision of the Kyrgyz side to further strengthen multifaceted cooperation within the SCO.
"In order to create favorable conditions and sustainable socio-economic development of the region, we propose to start work on the creation of a common economic market based on modern innovative principles of development.
Improvement of the transportation system of the SCO member states will make it possible to attract additional volumes of international transit traffic and contribute to a significant increase in trade turnover between our states.
In this context, I would like to note the progressive advancement of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad construction project, which will link East and West along the China-West Asia-Europe route," the chairman of the SCO CHG added.
Further, Akylbek Zhaparov said that a gradual transition to the principles of green economy is observed in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the formation of legal and institutional frameworks for the subsequent implementation of green directions by sectors of the economy.
The issues of development and implementation of renewable energy sources in the energy sector are also an important condition for economic development and competitiveness in the modern world.
The SCO has relevant documents and a mechanism for developing coordinated proposals and initiatives in this area.
"In this connection, we believe it is important to concentrate our efforts on implementing the signed and adopted documents in the area of renewable energy sources.
Dear Colleagues,
As you know, the next meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government will be held in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
In this connection, I wish the Pakistani side a successful chairmanship," concluded Akylbek Zhaparov.
