On September 4–5, 2025, the Ninth Multilateral Forum of Northern and Central Asia on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The organizer was the Subregional Office for North and Central Asia of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
At the invitation of the main organizers, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Oleg Kopylov took part in the panel session on the topic of partnerships in the interests of sustainable development. In his speech, the Deputy Secretary-General acquainted the participants with the history of the establishment and directions of SCO activities, informed them about the outcomes of the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization (Tianjin, September 1, 2025), which demonstrated the growing demand for our multilateral platform on the global stage. The efforts of the Organization and its member states aimed at achieving the SDGs, the consistent commitment to continuing constructive cooperation with the UN and specialized agencies within the framework of existing agreements and cooperation were noted. It was emphasized that the sustainable development agenda invariably occupies an important place among the Organization’s priority tasks, as evidenced by the fact that during China’s chairmanship of the SCO in 2025, the year was declared the Year of Sustainable Development, while the Kyrgyzstan Chairmanship, which has begun, opened under the motto “25 years of the SCO: together towards a sustainable world, development and prosperity.”