BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 2
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
The heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries approved a decision on the preparation of a concept for cooperation between SCO members on the development of remote and rural territories in the digital era and an action plan for its implementation, Trend reports referring to the Uzbek media.
The document was adopted within the framework of the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent, on Nov. 2.
This document also deals with the interaction of border areas. The emphasis is on the use of digital technology and innovative developments. The concept is proposed to be submitted for consideration by the SCO Council of Heads of State, whose meeting will be held in Russian St. Petersburg on July 22-23, 2020.
Moreover, the heads of government approved the rules of the consortium of SCO economic think tanks - one such center will be determined in each organization’s member country.
The concept of interaction between the railway administrations of the SCO members and the decision to prepare a framework agreement between the SCO governments on the formation of an integrated transport management system were approved. The purpose of this document is to develop a unified system of interaction for all modes of transport.
The prime ministers of the countries of the organization approved a program for the development of the ecological well-being of the SCO cities and a decision on cooperation in the field of trade in services between the SCO countries.
During the council meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the SCO secretariat and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the exchange of information between the SCO and the FAO, as well as joint seminars and round tables.
During the meeting, the customs services of the SCO countries signed a memorandum on mutual integration of national transit systems. The document defines the rules for further deepening interaction and integration of national transit systems.
The memorandum will also speed up and simplify the procedure for customs operations, create conditions for the introduction of paperless technologies, unify the principles of functioning of national information systems.
Furthermore, a new program of multilateral trade and economic cooperation until 2035 was adopted as well.
The previous version of the program, which entered into force in 2003, will be valid until 2020. The emphasis in the new version of the program is on digitalization and high technology.
In total, within the framework of the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO countries, 14 documents were signed, of which 12 were directly signed by the prime ministers.
The new document identifies priorities in the areas of trade and investment in banking and financial cooperation, transport and logistics, industry, agriculture, energy, customs, innovation, information technology, spatial development, interregional interaction, tourism, ecology and education.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded in 2001 by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In 2017, the heads of state of the association signed a decision on admission of India and Pakistan to the organization. Currently, the observer countries in the SCO are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, and the partner countries are Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
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