The nineteenth Meeting of Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States responsible for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade activities (hereinafter — the Meeting) chaired by Republic of India was held through videoconference on 28 October 2020.
The Meeting was attended by H.E. Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Republic of India, H.E. Mr Aset Irgaliev, Deputy Minister of National Economy, Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Mr. Yu Jianhua, Deputy Minister of Commerce of the PRC, Deputy Representative of the PRC in International Trade Negotiations, and Minister, H.E. Mr. Avtandil Alybaev, Deputy Minister of Economy, Kyrgyz Republic, H.E. Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser for Commerce and Investment, Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TBC), H.E. Mr. Vladimir Ilichyov, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. Abdurakhmonzoda Abdurakhmon, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Republic of Tajikistan, H.E. Mr. Aziz Voitov, First Deputy Minister for Investments and Foreign Trade, Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Meeting was also attended by the SCO Secretary-General H.E Mr. Vladimir Norov, and the representatives of the SCO Business Council, Mr. Shiv Khemka, National Chapter Chair of SCO in India and Mr. Sergey Kanavskiy, Executive Secretary, SCO Business Council.
During the Meeting, which took place in a constructive and friendly atmosphere, the sides considered a wide range of issues on the further development of regional economic interaction, including exchanged views on the state and prospects of trade, economic and investment cooperation within SCO.
The Heads of Delegations approved the Draft Action Plan for 2021-2025 for Implementation of the Program for Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation of the SCO, and recommended its submission by the SCO Secretariat in accordance with the established procedure for approval at the forthcoming Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO Member States.
The Heads of Delegations approved the draft Concept of Cooperation of the SCO Member States on the Development of Remote and Rural Areas in the Digital Age and recommended that the SCO Secretariat submit it in due course for approval at the next meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO Member States (10 of November, 2020).
The parties agreed to discuss on the content of the Bank of best solutions in the field of development of remote territories (Action Plan) of the SCO member states in order to implement the Protocol of the Meeting of Ministers of the SCO member states.
The Heads of delegations adopted the following documents:
(i) Statement by Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in charge of economic and trade activities of the response to COVID-19 pandemic
(ii) Statement on support of Multilateral Trading System by the Ministers responsible for Foreign Economic activities and Foreign Trade of SCO member states who are WTO members
(iii) SCO Member States Cooperation on Intellectual Property
(iv) Action Plan for Implementation of MOU to Stimulate Cooperation within the Framework of SCO in the field of Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises between the Ministries of the Member States of Shanghai Cooperation Organization responsible for External Economic and Foreign Trade Activities
The Heads of Delegations noted the significance of the initiatives to establish Special Working Group on Poverty Alleviation and Special Working Group on Start-ups and to continue work in order to work out further means of interaction in these areas.
Representative of the SCO Business Council informed about the activities of this structure for 2019-2020 and about priority areas of work for 2021.
The Indian Side provided information about the preparatory work for the next Meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments (Prime Ministers) of the SCO Member States.
The Heads of Delegations noted the significance of cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, transport and logistics, tourism, agriculture and industry, energy, information and communication technologies, spatial development, science, ecology and environmental protection, and reiterated the importance of promoting cooperation between the SCO Member States in these areas.
The Meeting will be held in 2021 at the venue of the next meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments (Prime Ministers) of the SCO Member States. The exact dates and venue will be agreed through the SCO Secretariat.
Following the outcomes of Meeting, the Heads of delegations of the SCO Member States have signed the Minutes.