BELARUS ADMITTED AS THE 10TH MEMBER OF SCO; SUMMIT ADOPTS DOCUMENT ON COUNTER-TERRORISM

Astana (Kazakhstan): The SCO Summit on Thursday admitted Belarus as the 10th member of the group.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the hosts of the Summit congratulated Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on this occasion.

“The SCO has become an important mechanism in the international relations system and significantly contributes to sustainable growth,” he said.

President Sadyr Japarov of the Kyrgyz Republic highlighted the SCO’s increasing partnership potential, emphasizing the importance of its commitment to active political and diplomatic resolution of conflict situations. He also shared the country’s plans to host an SCO youth digital forum.

President of China, Xi Jinping, and acting President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Mokhber, noted Kazakhstan’s positive role in the SCO’s chairmanship.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin prioritized maintaining the security of the SCO member countries. He expressed support for resuming activities of the SCO-Afghanistan contact group, believing it will contribute to further normalization of the situation in Afghanistan.

Tokayev summed up the results of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Kazakh President said that thanks to the support of all SCO participants, as many as 150 events of different levels, including digital, tourism, energy and business forums, as well as the SCO youth council meeting, were held in the year of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship in the SCO.

According to him, 60 new documents including the anti-drug strategy, the plan on implementation of the economic cooperation strategy, environmental protection agreement and energy cooperation development strategy have been developed. The range of the Organization’s international partners has been expanded. The activity of the Special Working Group on Promoting Investment has revived its activity. The process of transition to payments in national currencies has gained a positive dynamics.

“A number of anchor projects were launched which make the SCO format more attractive. Among them is the project “Spiritual Relics of the SCO States” and the first international music festival “SCO Silk Way.” 10 tourist destinations for implementation of joint projects were determined. Almaty became the cultural and tourist capital of the SCO,” the Kazakh President said.