On 9 December 2020, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov met with Ambassador of the European Union to China Nicolas Chapuis and Ambassador of Germany to China Clemens von Goetze at the SCO Secretariat.
The Secretary-General informed his guests about the SCO's current activities, including the results of the Heads of State Council and Heads of Government Council meetings, which took place in November 2020. Vladimir Norov praised the member states' cooperation throughout the entire pandemic and noted their solidarity and the high level of mutual support. The Secretary-General and the ambassadors also discussed issues related to the SCO's current development, security activities, and efforts to counter terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime, and noted that it was necessary to encourage cooperation in information security with other organisations, including the EU.
The SCO Secretary-General further spoke about the SCO member states' cooperation in transport and logistics, startups and innovation, ICT, agriculture and food security, and traditional medicine. He also told the meeting participants about cultural cooperation: youth work and the development of education, culture, science and sports.
Vladimir Norov stressed that 2021 would be a special year for the SCO because it will mark its 20th anniversary. There are plans to celebrate this milestone with many special events.
The Secretary-General noted the growing interest in the SCO activities and contacts with it. According to Mr Norov, the SCO maintains close ties with the United Nations and its agencies as well as ASEAN. There is also interest in further expanding partnerships in the region and all over the world, including with the EU.
The Secretary-General proposed developing contacts between the SCO and the EU at the institutional level, via cooperation between analytical and public diplomacy centres. He also suggested EU member countries should participate in the development of transport corridors in the SCO space.
The guests thanked the Secretary-General for inviting them to the Secretariat and shared their positions on the latest security developments, the Afghanistan agenda, e-commerce promotion, cybercrime, COVID-19 response and vaccine development.
The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere.