On 17-19 May 2017, a delegation of the SCO Secretariat led by SCO Deputy Secretary-General Vladimir Potapenko is taking part in the ministerial segment of the 73rd Session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which is being held at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok.
The theme topic of the session is "Regional cooperation for sustainable energy." The session is being attended by high-level delegations from the ESCAP countries, specialised UN bodies and other regional and international organisations.
The agenda includes current issues pertaining to promoting regional economic cooperation and integration and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific. Delegates will focus on achieving national energy security, developing transport infrastructure, enhancing the role of science, technology and innovation in sustainable and inclusive development, reducing environmental impacts and other current issues of the macro-region's socioeconomic development.
The session's ministerial segment and debates focus on initiatives on the energy system transformation in the region, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its implementation priorities in the region, solutions to current problems and the search for new socioeconomic development opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.
The agenda also includes presentations of national and regional initiatives on easing the region's dependence on imported energy, in particular, by enhancing energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy in the energy mix.
The final report of the 73rd Session will include the recommendations agreed upon by the participating delegations.
The SCO Secretariat delegation plans to meet with ESCAP Executive Secretary Shamshad Akhtar and heads of ESCAP Secretariat's departments concerned to discuss the deepening of cooperation between the SCO and ESCAP with a view to implementing the memorandum of understanding between their secretariats.
The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the largest of the UN's five regional commissions. It was set up to deal with economic and social problems of the Asia-Pacific region. In 2008, ESCAP established partner relations with the SCO. They are based on three-year memorandums of understanding between the two organisations' secretariats. The latest memorandum was signed during a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (prime ministers) held in Zhengzhou, China, on 15 December 2015.