SCO Summit is on world’s focus

In June 2018, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Qingdao, China, the chairmanship in the organization moved to Kyrgyzstan. Accordingly, the next SCO Summit will be held by Kyrgyzstan and is scheduled for June 13 - 14, 2019 in Bishkek.
The upcoming SCO summit will certainly be one of the most important events of the year in the political life of Kyrgyzstan. In the run up to the most important event in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan already held a meeting of Secretaries of the SCO Security Councils, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers of Defense, the SCO Media Forum. In addition, numerous cultural and humanitarian events are planned, including a photo exhibition dedicated to the organization. The annual international SCO marathon "Run the Silk Road", other events that marked the beginning of the events of the upcoming major summit with the participation of heads of state of all members of the organization, governments and other high-ranking officials of the SCO are conducting in Kyrgyzstan. The SCO Business Forum, which took place recently in Bishkek, was significant, because five memorandums and three agreements were signed during the event, totaling more than USD 2 billion. And all of this indicates that Kyrgyzstan took full responsibility of holding the SCO Summit and its organization.
Back in January 2019, the President of Kyrgyzstan was reported on the work done and on the planned activities within the framework of the SCO Summit. Then Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Head of the President’s Office Dosaly Esenaliev, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chingiz Aidarbekov, Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism Azamat Zhamankulov and Secretary of the Security Council Damir Sagynbaev presented information on the progress of the summit.
Then Jeenbekov noted, "We consider the SCO as a platform for establishing mutual trust relations and developing cooperation". He said then that the authority of the SCO is strengthening and growing every year. "The basis of the Organization is the unity of the participating states, trusting partnership and mutual respect," the Kyrgyz President said.
Later, on Apr. 20 at the initiative of the SCO Secretariat, a presentation of the Issyk-Kul SCO Marathon "Run the Silk Road" was held in Beijing. More than 3 thousand people from 27 countries of the world took part in the SCO Marathon in Issyk-Kul on May 11.
In the run up to the Bishkek Summit of the SCO, the first event is held within the framework of the main meeting.
Thus, the XVI Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the SCO member states took place in Bishkek on May 15. During the event, participants discussed the state and prospects in the field of cultural development on the implementation of an agreement between the governments of the SCO member states. The sides also discussed the issue of including cultural heritage sites to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Following this event, the Second SCO Women’s Forum took place in Bishkek It is noteworthy that this event took place on the eve of Mother's Day in Kyrgyzstan. During the discussions, the participants discussed the issues of realizing the economic potential of women and the development of female entrepreneurship. The Forum also raised the issue of digitalization in ensuring equal opportunities for women and men. The participants also focused on regional challenges and opportunities for the improvement of condition of women and girls within the framework of the SCO development and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Along with this, a meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held. The discussion at the meeting concerned the ensuring security and stability in the SCO area. The meeting participants discussed further development of cooperation of the SCO member states in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, as well as information security issues.
In addition, the meeting focused on the inadmissibility of interference in the internal affairs of states under the pretext of countering terrorism and extremism, as well as the unacceptability of the use of terrorist, extremist and radical groups.
The sides also stressed the need for a comprehensive implementation of the cooperation program of the SCO member states in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism in 2019-2021 and the entry into force of the SCO Convention on countering extremism.
At a business forum "SCO: Expanding the Boundaries of Cooperation", the participants talked about strengthening trade and economic relations within the Organization, including promoting business contacts, trade and export, and also the implementation of investment projects and the creation of joint ventures between representatives of the business community of the SCO member countries.
And one of the significant events before the SCO Summit was the meeting of ministers of foreign affairs. Summing up the results of the meeting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Chingiz Aidarbekov said that according to the results of the meeting of the SCO foreign ministers, a package of more than 35 documents was prepared and approved for signature by the heads of the SCO member states.
The main document among them is the Bishkek Declaration on the prospects for the development of the SCO and the consolidation of the positions of the member states on the main issues in the framework of interaction. A roadmap has been adopted to support the efforts of Afghanistan to resolve the conflict peacefully.
SCO Secretary General, Vladimir Norov, noted that Kyrgyzstan’s chairmanship in the Organization is characterized by business activity and coordinated efforts.
The upcoming SCO Summit in June should be a comprehensive event to confirm the prepared agreements and memorandums. It is expected that the SCO Summit in Bishkek will remain in history as an important international event held by Kyrgyzstan at a high level.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 in Shanghai, China. Its founders are six states - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The rotating presidency in the SCO changes every year, and the next SCO summit is held in the country that chairs in the Organization. In 2017, the membership of the SCO expanded after entering of India and Pakistan, which were accepted by full members of the Organization at the same time. In addition there are SCO observer countries. They are such countries as Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan and Belarus, which have long been seeking to become a member of the Organization.
The executive body of the SCO is the Secretariat. The Secretariat is a permanent administrative body of the SCO. It is entrusted with: organizational and technical support of events held within the framework of the SCO, participation in the development and implementation of documents of all bodies within the Organization, preparation of proposals for the annual budget. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General, who is approved by the Council of heads of states. The Secretary General is appointed from among the citizens of the SCO member states on a rotating basis, in the order of the Russian alphabet of the names of the member states for a period of three years without the right to extend for the next term.
In 2019, the Secretariat is headed by representative of Tajikistan, Vladimir Norov, and his deputy from Kyrgyzstan is Aizada Subakozhoeva.
Kabar News Agency