Meeting of Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Responsible for Foreign Economic and Foreign Trade Activities

On September 19, 2018, the 17th Meeting of Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), responsible for foreign economic and foreign trade activities (hereinafter - the Meeting) was held in Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan.

The meeting was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Tajikistan Somnath Ghosh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Republic of Tajikistan Nurlan Seitimov, Assistant to the Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China Lee Chagan, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic Alisher Eldar Turalievich, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Development of the Russian Federation Talibov Azer Mutalimoglu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of ublike Tajikistan Imtiyaz Ahmad Qazi, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Nematullo Hikmatullozoda, Minister of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodzhaev Abduhakimovich.

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Secretary General of the SCO Akkoshkarov Nurlan Sovetovich and Executive Secretary of the SCO Business Council Kanavsky Sergey Vadimovich.

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan Nematullo Hikmatullozoda.

During the meeting, held in a constructive and friendly atmosphere, the parties considered a wide range of issues on further development and deepening of regional economic interaction, including exchanged views on the state and prospects of trade, economic and investment cooperation in the SCO region.

The Heads of Delegation stressed the importance of further deepening cooperation aimed at the progressive strengthening of an open, inclusive, transparent, rule-based and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, as well as preventing any unilateral protectionist actions in trade. In this regard, it was noted that the World Trade Organization remains a key platform for discussing the agenda of international trade and adopting authoritative, effective multilateral trade rules.

The heads of delegations took note of the draft report of the SCO Secretariat on the implementation of the program of multilateral trade and economic cooperation of the SCO member states and recommended that it be submitted in accordance with the established procedure for approval of the next meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO member states, October 11-12, 2018 in the city of Dushanbe (Republic of Tajikistan).

The next Ministerial Meeting in 2019 will be held in the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Following the meeting of the ministers, the heads of the delegations of the SCO member states signed the Protocol.