DUSHANBE, May 14, 2010, Asia-Plus — The fifth two-day meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum ended in Dushanbe on May 14.
The meeting brought together known researchers and experts from the SCO (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) member nations to discuss state and prospects of further cooperation between the member nations of the Organization.
According to Sayfullo Safarov, the deputy director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Tajikistan, problems of post-conflict settlement in Afghanistan, the current situation in Kyrgyzstan as well as rational use of water-and-energy resources in the Central Asian region were among the major topics of the meeting,
Aleksandr Lukin, the director of the Center for East Asian and SCO Studies at the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (Russia), noted that atmosphere of the Dushanbe meeting reflected the real situation – “a complex period that SCO is currently experiencing in its ten-year history.” “Complication is connected, first of all, with the events in Kyrgyzstan, and the Organization will have to respond to them it because Kyrgyzstan is one of member nations of SCO,” said Lukin, “Anyway, we should discuss this issue. All the SCO member nations should work together to stabilize the situation in the region.”
The other acute problem is the use of water-and-energy resources in the region, he added. “We gathered here to discuss complex problems and it is good that we did not hesitate to discuss the issue of rational use water-and-energy resources in the region along with other problems,” Lukin said.
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.
