SCO participates actively in events organised at expert platforms

UFA, July 10. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) participates actively in various events organised at expert platforms, the organisation’s Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev said on Friday. "We are for work at the expert platforms," he said. "We are interested in uniting the potentials of the Astana Economic Forum, the Petersburg Economic Forum, and possibly of the Eastern Economic Forum, which will be organised for the first time in Vladivostok in September, of the Xi’an Russia-China EXPO on the basis of the Harbin international fair and several other discussion platforms, which are organised on the space of the Organisation." "The parties have been studying thoroughly all the criticism [of SCO] from experts," the official said. The Organisation’s summit in Russia’s Ufa continues on July 10. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation The SCO creation was proclaimed on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. At present five countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan) have observer-nation status, and three more countries (Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka), dialogue partner status. The SCO member states occupy a territory of around 30 million 189 thousand square kilometres, which makes up three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, and have a population of 1.5 billion, which makes up a quarter of the planet's population. India and Pakistan officially applied for full SCO membership in September 2014. Iran also seeks full membership in the organisation. The SCO has established relations with the United Nations, where it is an observer at the General Assembly, with the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Russia’s chairing role at SCO Russia has been chairing the Organisation from September, 2014. Top priorities of the chairing role are formation of common approaches to current regional and international problems, and expanding cooperation with international organisations. Russia’s presidential envoy on SCO Bakhriyer Khakimov said Russia had managed to fulfil practically fully the plan for the presidency term. Read more