On Septemper 29, Chelyabinsk, a Russian city in the South Urals has become a platform for hosting the II Forum of the Heads of Regions of the SCO Member States. The decision was made after the Declaration at the XX Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe was signed.
The Forum’s Plenary session was moderated by Alexander Kalinin, President of OPORA Of RUSSIA. The participants of the event discussed the mechanisms for implementing the Program for the Development of Interregional Cooperation of the SCO Member States.
According to Alexander Kalinin, the Forum is gaining its momentum and is becoming an increasingly popular platform.
“The importance of the Forum was noted in the final declaration of the SCO summit, which was recently held in Dushanbe and was dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the organization. Today, it is very important to develop interregional cooperation between the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. After all, these are direct contacts between various regional authorities and businesses of the SCO member states. This makes it easy to build joint projects, removing all sorts of barriers to economic development. The key to success is the joint work of the government, business and citizens of our countries. The Forum contributes to this in every way, ”said Alexander Kalinin.
Delegations from China (Chongqing city, Shandong province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) and Pakistan (Sindh, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Punjab) took part in the forum via videoconference.
Representatives of Uzbekistan (Navoi region), Kazakhstan (Turkestan, North Kazakhstan and Akmola regions), the Kyrgyz Republic (Issyk-Kul region), Tajikistan (Sughd region) and India joined the event in online and offline formats.
The participants of the Plenary session discussed the ways to increase the efficiency of cooperation within the Forum and projects of the regions of the SCO countries. They also shared their experience in the development of foreign economic activities in their regions. The result of the Forum was an agreement to consolidate efforts in fighting the pandemic consequences and to increase cooperation in such spheres as agriculture, international security as well as culture, education and international diplomacy.