ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 4. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is taking active steps to optimize trade chains, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the SCO Plus meeting in Astana today, TurkicWorld reports.
"It's notable that amid the downturn in several developed economies around the world, the combined GDP of SCO countries increased by an average of 5.2 percent in 2023. Industrial production grew by 4.5 percent, with inflation at only 2.4 percent. These are good indicators.
Interactions in the fields of energy, infrastructure, food security, high technology and innovation, and artificial intelligence digitalization continue to deepen steadily. The SCO is taking the most active steps to build and optimize trade, logistics, and mutual settlement chains," he said.
Putin also pointed out that new, more efficient transport corridors connecting the continent from north to south and from west to east are being formed.
"We, of course, are interested in involving the widest range of countries in the sectoral projects being implemented within the SCO," he added.
To note, the SCO Plus format meeting has kicked off on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at the Palace of Independence in Astana.
Alongside the heads of 10 member states of the SCO Organization, the SCO+ meeting is attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
