SCO Secretary General's visit to Uzbekistan: prospects for multifaceted cooperation and preparations for the Samarkand Summit are on the agenda

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is one of the authoritative international structures that unites hundreds of millions of representatives of different nations and nationalities in its space. The goals and objectives of the SCO are aimed at ensuring peace and stability, sustainable development and multiplying the rich common culture of the participating countries. Over its more than twenty-year history, the organization has made a huge contribution to strengthening the world order by assisting in the rapprochement of states in various areas of activity.

This year, the Republic of Uzbekistan is chairing the SCO. An important and responsible mission of our country is aimed at preserving and enhancing the image of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. On the eve of the Summit with the participation of the heads of the SCO member states, which will be held in ancient Samarkand in September this year, a series of events dedicated to a particular topic is traditionally held.
Last week, the SCO People's Diplomacy Forum was held in our capital. And on May 13 of this year, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Zhang Ming arrived in Uzbekistan on an official visit. The meeting with the Secretary General on the eve in Tashkent was held by Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov.
The agenda includes the state and prospects of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and the SCO, as well as issues related to the preparation and holding of events within the framework of Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the organization.
It was emphasized that at the initiative of our republic, new areas of cooperation within the SCO have been launched, which contribute to enriching its agenda taking into account modern realities. Thus, for the first time, ministerial meetings of the member states of the association on information and communication technologies and poverty reduction were held. Meetings of ministers of culture, heads of departments responsible for plant quarantine, and cooperation in the field of tourism are also planned.
Uzbekistan offers a number of initiatives, the implementation of which will bring cooperation between the SCO countries to a higher level. These are the development of intraregional trade, building up industrial cooperation, strengthening transport connectivity, reducing poverty, ensuring food security, responding to information security challenges, promoting a positive image of the organization, expanding tourism cooperation. Special attention is paid to cultural and humanitarian cooperation, which shows the world community an example of respect, tolerant attitude to the national traditions of states and mutual enrichment of cultures through international exchanges. During the presidency, we actively support and develop the pace set at the 2021 summit.
During his visit to Uzbekistan, Zhang Ming visited ancient Samarkand, where he got acquainted with the progress of construction of facilities intended for the meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO member States in September. He highly appreciated the level of preparation, and also expressed confidence in the successful implementation of all planned activities.
By the way, during its presidency, Uzbekistan is determined to further expand multilateral cooperation. The task is to bring it to a new, higher-quality level, to give dynamism through practical initiatives.
- Uzbekistan has been chosen as the first stop during visits to the SCO member states, - said the Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. - In Samarkand, we got acquainted with the progress of preparatory work. The issues of further deepening cooperation in the SCO space were discussed. In particular, an exchange of views on topical issues on the development of the organization took place.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pays great attention to the preparations for the summit. The scale of the objects under construction made a huge impression: all the buildings are imbued with the history and rich cultural traditions of Uzbekistan.
The Republic attaches great importance to the development of the SCO, actively participates in its activities as a founding state. Currently, intensive work is underway to coordinate a number of documents.
I am convinced that the Samarkand Summit will be a success and will become a new milestone in the history of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Over the two decades of its existence, the SCO has achieved high achievements. The Organization has become a powerful mechanism for regional cooperation and influences the course and development of global politics. The SCO member states cooperate in the fields of economy, culture, science, education, ecology, youth support, gender equality, parliamentary and people's diplomacy.
During the 20th anniversary SCO Summit in Dushanbe in 2021, the head of Uzbekistan identified the main priorities of the chairmanship of our republic aimed at further strengthening the SCO's potential, taking into account current realities, intensifying efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region, deepening trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties, as well as increasing the authority of the organization in the the international arena.
During the presidency, Uzbekistan has been actively expanding multilateral cooperation. To date, the main document of the summit has been developed - the draft Samarkand Declaration of the heads of the SCO member states, prepared on the basis of the principles of the "Shanghai spirit", which is based on mutual trust, equality, respect for civilizational and cultural diversity, and the desire for common development.
"Productive and productive negotiations were held, at the same time we discussed in detail a wide range of issues of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and the SCO, which has risen to a qualitatively new level of development in recent years," V. Norov stressed. - An exchange of views took place on the issues of increasing the organization's potential in the field of ensuring regional security, sustainable economic development, and expanding cultural and humanitarian ties. Special attention is paid to aspects related to Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It was noted with satisfaction that more than 40 events were held under the chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan in almost all spheres of the SCO's activities and at different levels.
I would like to emphasize separately that the work carried out within the framework of our country's chairmanship in the SCO is aimed at holding the Samarkand summit at a high substantive and organizational level. We also exchanged views on topical issues of the regional and global agenda in a confidential atmosphere. We focused on the Afghan problem, the development of common SCO approaches to assist in establishing peace and stability in this country.
During the talks, preparations for the upcoming important high-level events were discussed: a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, meetings of the secretaries of the Security Councils, Ministers of Internal Affairs and Defense of the SCO member states. At these meetings, a wide range of issues of cooperation in the SCO will be discussed - from security to sustainable development, taking into account modern realities. All the events are designed to lay the foundation for the main political event in the SCO space - the summit, which will be held on September 15-16 in Samarkand. In this regard, the main attention was paid to organizational issues and high-quality preparation of final documents for inclusion in the agenda of the meeting of the leaders of the SCO member states.
We have come to a common understanding that the observed geopolitical turbulence and radically changing international relations require the consolidation of the efforts of the SCO member states, the manifestation of even greater cohesion, confidence-building and mutual support in line with the principles of the "Shanghai Spirit".

*  *  *

The upcoming 21st SCO Summit, which will be held in ancient Samarkand, will raise the historically close relations of the member countries of the association to a new level, taking into account the changing international environment.
During the negotiations, the parties stressed the need to continue active efforts to accelerate the process of approving documents scheduled for signing in September.

Evgenia Yun.
"The Truth of the East"