SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov met with representatives of the Shanghai business community as part of his visit to the city.
"Business contacts within the SCO space are expected to take on a new dimension on the back of the SCO's development strategy and as it expands its membership," Rashid Alimov said at the meeting. The SCO Secretary-General talked at length about the current state and prospects of trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation of SCO member states in the short and medium term. "We have 11 weeks to go before the SCO Summit in Astana. This historic event is getting closer every day. It will have a huge impact not only on the vast region from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean and from Shanghai to Kaliningrad. In fact, SCO countries will account for 27 percent of the global GDP, and be home to 44 percent of the world's population," Rashid Alimov pointed out.
The meeting continued with a proactive exchange of opinions with the Shanghai business community on projects implemented across the SCO space. A presentation and exhibition were prepared at the Science & Technology and Culture Exchange Centre for the occasion. Shanghai business executives said that they were ready to work in ten priority areas. In addition, they said that they were looking forward to contributing to the SCO pavilion at Expo 2017 International Specialised Exhibition in Astana.
Taking part in the meeting were heads of major Shanghai companies representing R&D, communications and innovation, culture and tourism, healthcare and other industries.