On 6-7 September, a SCO Secretariat delegation led by Secretary-General Rashid Alimov is attending the Eastern Economic Forum. The Secretary-General's working programme includes his participation in panel sessions and discussions dedicated to trade and economic interaction in Eurasia and the Asia Pacific Region. He has also had a meeting with professors, teachers and students from the Far Eastern Federal University.
The SCO's role and place in regional economic cooperation was discussed during the panel session Partnership for Greater Eurasia: Expanding a Future-Oriented Joint Development Space. The participants noted the SCO's considerable potential and its unique capacity for building a stable system of interstate ties in Greater Eurasia.
The panel session was attended by EEC Trade Minister Veronica Nikishina, Russian Ambassador to the PRC Andrei Denisov, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, as well as prominent experts and political scientists from Russia, the United States, the Republic of Korea, and other APR countries.
In his remarks, Rashid Alimov said that "at the turn of the centuries, Eurasia has become a space for large-scale processes designing a new system of interstate cooperation. Practically all countries in the region in our day and age are involved in various projects the nature of which varies from the classic forms of integration to forming joint specialised multilateral mechanisms to address specific tasks. Talks between the EAEU and China, the EAEU and ASEAN countries, progress in implementing the One Belt, One Road concept, as well as the development of versatile interaction within the SCO Eight with the participation of the observer states and SCO dialogue partners are emerging as the core elements of this process," SCO Secretary-General stressed.
Participants at the session were equally of the opinion that pooling the potentials and efforts to produce a synergic effect would facilitate a long-term, stable, inclusive development of countries and peoples in Eurasia and the Asia Pacific Region. In this connection, Rashid Alimov stressed that "the Greater Eurasian space could constitute a partnership of regional states united by the common ideas of joint development. However, its fundamental underpinnings can only be built by multilateral efforts in the sphere of politics and security, as well as trade, economic and cultural interaction between countries and peoples in the region."
Eurasian security topics will be discussed in detail at the panel session Fostering Cooperation from Lisbon to Vladivostok on 7 September. The SCO Secretary-General is planning to talk about the SCO's best practices and achievements in the area of regional security and stability plus the fight against international terrorism, extremist ideology, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.
The Eastern Economic Forum was established in 2014 by an Executive Order of the President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation. The Forum has the status of an annual event with the city of Vladivostok as its permanent venue. The main events on the EEF programme are held at the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island.
The EEF has emerged as a major international event of much political importance and a prestigious and respected business and communicative platform for the authorities and the business elite from states in the Asia Pacific Region.