DUSHANBE, December 15, 2014, Asia-Plus — Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda has held a number of bilateral meetings in Astana, Kazakhstan on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government that is taking place in the Kazakh capital on December 15.
Today morning, Rasoulzoda reportedly held talks with his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov. The two discussed a broad range of issues related to economic and humanitarian cooperation between their countries.
Today, Tajik prime minister also held talks with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The two sides reportedly discussed bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Afghanistan in the fields of energy transportation, security, and trade.
Meanwhile, the meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government is expected to focus, in particular, on discussing the results of the 13th SCO Council of External Trade and Economy Ministers Meeting, while the SCO Secretariat will present a report on the organization”s foreign economic and foreign trade activity. The meeting participants will discuss issues related to the pace of implementation of a trade and economic cooperation program, the list of measures for further development of project activity within the framework of the SCO for 2012-2016 and formation of an appropriate financial mechanism.
The meeting is expected to result in adoption of a joint communiqué and resolutions on various aspects of the SCO activity.
Founded by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on June 15, 2001, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organization.
The Organization currently has six full members — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
The Council of Heads of Government is the second-highest council in the organization. This council also holds annual summits, at which time members discuss issues of multilateral cooperation. The council also approves the organization”s budget.
