On 3-6 September 2019, the SCO Secretariat took part in the events held during the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
The forum was attended by over 8,500 participants, including heads of state and government, CEOs of large Russian and foreign companies, as well as leading politicians and experts from 65 countries. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was represented by SCO Deputy Secretary-General Vladimir Potapenko.
The main theme of the forum was The Far East — Development Horizons. Its main event, plenary session, was attended by the presidents of Russia and Mongolia and the prime ministers of India, Malaysia and Japan.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin spoke in his address about the achievements reached since the first such forum, saying that this result would have hardly been possible were it not for the effort to enhance an atmosphere of trust and constructive cooperation in the APR as a whole.
He went on to say that Russia was interested in promoting these positive trends to make the region we share safe and stable. "Our relations with India, China, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Japan and other APR countries are based on the principles of respect and honest dialogue. I am confident that these relations are showing great promise concordant with the growing role that the Asia Pacific Region is due to play in the coming decades," Vladimir Putin noted.
After that he outlined Russia's strategic goals, including the development of Russia's Far East "as a global nature and tourism centre, an international testing ground for working out ways to tackle a question that matters to all of us: how to ensure harmony between economic activity and green tourism, between making nature accessible to the public and preserving unique ecosystems."
A conference titled A Common Economic Space from the Atlantic to the Pacific: The Greater Eurasian Partnership was convened on the first day of the forum at Far Eastern Federal University.
The participants discussed ways to boost international cooperation and joint projects, as well as the coordination of the development of bilateral and multilateral relations between EAEU member states and their EU partners.
Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov pointed out that "the Greater Eurasian Partnership is an open movement intended to be comfortable for all participants and to develop a network of tiered mechanisms and agreements that will constitute the body of the Greater Eurasian Partnership and will have the EAEU, ASEAN, the SCO, APEC and China's Belt and Road Initiative at its core."
Vladimir Potapenko attended the forum's session that focused on
international cooperation within the framework of developing a common economic space and conveyed the greetings of SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov to the forum's participants.
He noted, in particular, that the SCO member states considered it vital to use the potential of the regional countries, international organisations and multilateral associations such as the SCO, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) in the interests of creating a space for open, mutually beneficial and equal partnership and cooperation aimed at promoting reliable security and sustainable development. Vladimir Potapenko also told those present at the session about the SCO's trade and economic plans bearing on the forum's agenda.
The delegate from the SCO Secretariat also attended several roundtable discussions and meetings, including the Russia-ASEAN and Russia-China business dialogues.