DUSHANBE, May 13, 2010, Asia-Plus — The fifth two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum is opening in Dushanbe today.
The meeting is expected to discuss state and prospects of further cooperation between the member nations of the Organization.
According to the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan, some 20 representatives from the SCO member nations (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and countries having status of observers and dialogue partners are participating at the meeting.
Rational use of water-and-energy resources in the Central Asian region is one of major topics of the meeting, the source said.
The meeting is also supposed to consider issues related to development of transportation infrastructure and transit potential, prospects of economic integration of the SCO member states as well as security cooperation. The meeting participants will also exchange views on cooperation of SCO with other international and regional organizations.
Constituted at a meeting held at the Moscow State University for International Relations on May 22-23, 2006, the SCO Forum is a many-sided, non-government, consultative-expert tool created for the assistance and scholarly support for SCO activities, and to develop cooperation between research and political science centers of SCO member states, conduct joint research on pressing questions within the Organization’s sphere of reference, articulate the tasks and principles of SCO activities, expand its ties to scholarly and social groups, as well as to encourage the exchange of opinions between scholars and experts in the fields of politics, security, economics, environment, new technologies, and in humanitarian and other areas. The Forum bases its activities on the principles of the SCO Charter, on the laws of SCO member states, and on its own Regulation. The Forum works in close cooperation with the SCO Secretariat, the Council of National Coordinators and the Foreign Ministries of member states.
Each SCO member state uses its own criteria to designate one authoritative research institution to be included in the Forum’s structure. These institutions hold the status of National Research Center of the SCO.
At present, the following institutions have the status of National Research Center – Member of the SCO Forum: China Institute for International Studies; International Institute for Modern Policy (Kazakhstan); Institute for Strategic Analysis and Assessment under the President of Kyrgyzstan; Center for East Asian and SCO Studies at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (Russia); Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan; and Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Uzbekistan.
