On 18 April, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov met with the heads of the leading analytical centres from the SCO countries in Beijing, who arrived there to take part in the 14th SCO Forum.
The meeting was also attended by former SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov.
Vladimir Norov noted that over the 14 years of its history the forum has established itself as an important venue for discussing topical issues of SCO activities and has become its public consultative and expert mechanism. He pointed out the need for greater practical results from the forum and more comprehensive research and analytical work on a permanent basis so that the expert community's advice and critical reviews could be put to good use in SCO's activities.
According to Vladimir Norov, research should be conducted on the SCO's involvement in establishing a new world order, on working out adequate measures to respond to new security challenges and threats, and on promoting the principles of the "Shanghai spirit." No less important is expert analysis of SCO's economic activities, including the development of transport infrastructure, energy engineering, e-commerce, information and communications technology, tourism, agriculture, aligning national economic development strategies, and more.
In addition, Vladimir Norov talked about the plans to set up a Consultative Council under the SCO Secretariat and a Consortium of SCO Economic Analysis Centres.
In their remarks, the heads of the analytical centres and leading experts supported the Secretary-General's ideas and proposals on invigoration of the forum's activity and added some points:
— the agenda of conferences and workshops on SCO subjects should be more specific and participants should be focused on practical cooperation within the SCO;
— the scope of scientific and student internships at permanent SCO bodies should be expanded;
— the incipient Consultative Council should prepare analytical reports that shall be communicated to the highest SCO bodies;
— a special fund for financing research and analytical work should be created as well as a system of grants within thematic areas;
— a solution to the linguistic problems in the SCO Secretariat operation should receive assistance;
— research into Central Asian issues and regional cooperation matters should be among the focal points.
— the agenda of conferences and workshops on SCO subjects should be more specific and participants should be focused on practical cooperation within the SCO;
— the scope of scientific and student internships at permanent SCO bodies should be expanded;
— the incipient Consultative Council should prepare analytical reports that shall be communicated to the highest SCO bodies;
— a special fund for financing research and analytical work should be created as well as a system of grants within thematic areas;
— a solution to the linguistic problems in the SCO Secretariat operation should receive assistance;
— research into Central Asian issues and regional cooperation matters should be among the focal points.
The Secretary-General thanked the meeting participants for the businesslike nature of the discussion and assured them that their proposals and the forum's recommendations would be taken into account in everyday work of the SCO Secretariat.