DUSHANBE, August 1, 2008, Asia-Plus — Head of Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) also Representative of the National Branch of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Business Council from Tajikistan, Sharif Said, will attend the Fifth Baikal Economic Forum that will be held in Irkutsk, Russia on September 11.
The same day, a SCO and a session of the SCO Business Council Board will be held in Irkutsk.
According to the CCI international relations department, the SCO delegation members to participate at the Fifth Baikal Economic Forum will include the SCO Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev, the SCO Business Council Board Chairman Dmitry Mezentsev, as well as Representatives of the SCO Business Council’s National Branches of China (Yui Pin), Kazakhstan (Raimbek Batalov), Kyrgyzstan (Boris Perfilyev) and Uzbekistan (Alisher Shaikhov) and others.
The Baikal Economic Forum (BEF) has been held on a regular basis once in two years in Irkutsk since 2000. The host of this important international event is the Council of Federation of the Russian Federal Assembly. The objective of the BEF is to provide intellectual support and policies to the Russian Government, taking into account the increasing importance of Siberia and the Far East in the development of the national economy and the rapidly evolving economic cooperation with Asia Pacific countries and regional forums like APEC, ASEAN, and ARF.
The BEF focuses on the following major aspects: Sustainable development and environment; Natural resources utilization and conservation; Energy and energy security issues; Industries infrastructure including transportation and communications; Investment and industrial policy; Interregional and international integration; Social and demographic policy; and Human resource development.
The Fourth Baikal Economic Forum was held in Irkutsk on September 19-22, 2006. It ensured general and representative discussions addressing priority areas in promoting social economic development in Siberia and the Far East regions, improving economic cooperation between Russia and Asia Pacific countries. The theme of the 4th BEF was “Europe-Russia-Asia Pacific: Ways of Integration and Cooperation.”
