SCO Meeting

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke at the Heads of State Council Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which was chaired by the Russian Federation in a videoconference format on November 10.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev began his speech by thanking the Russian government fo.organizing this event. The Head of State also congratulated President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon on his convincing victory in recent presidential elections and noted the participation of acting President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov in this meeting.

"Among us is acting President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov who took responsibility for the fate of our fraternal country during the political crisis. The coronavirus pandemic did not allow us to meet in person, but this does not detract from the importance of the summit", Tokayev said.

In the main part of his speech, President of Kazakhstan noted the SCO effectiveness as a tool for strengthening cooperation and trust between member states.

"Dear colleagues! We have come a long way over the past 20 years.The SCO has become one of the most successful internationa.organizations. It is rightly considered as an effective tool for strengthening cooperation and trust in an area that covers a quarter of the world's territory, 40 percent of the world's population and third of the world's GDP. At the same time, situation in the SCO area of responsibility is quite complex and has entered a process of profound transformation. The coronavirus has become a tough test for the world community and has clearly shown all the shortcomings of international cooperation", Tokayev added.
 
The Head of State pointed out that the pandemic has worsened crisis of trust between global powers. Existing mechanisms of preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution have seriously failed.

"Security threats are increasing, including terrorism, arms race, various hybrid wars, and climate change. There is a clash of two polar trends in the field of geo-economics: globalism and nationalism ( ... )", Tokayev stated in his speech.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed that there is a long-term struggle against the pandemic, its impact on health of our citizens and on economy of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

"There is every reason to believe that approval of Joint Comprehensive Action Plan to Counter the Epidemic Threats at today's meeting is a collective response to challenges of the time. We consider important our initiative to create a network of regional centers for disease control and biosafety under the auspices of WHO", Tokayev said.

According to the Head of State, the issue of Afghanistan reconstruction is topical for the SCO community. Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan is ready to continue cooperation within the framework of the SCO - Afghanistan contact group with an emphasis on socio-economic rehabilitation of this country.

"Escalation of global arms race actualizes the need to launch a system of control over biological weapons. We are all well aware of the risks associated with the threat of bioterrorism. During the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, I proposed the establishment of an International Agency for Biological Safety. I count on the support of my SCO colleagues in this matter", Tokayev added.

The Head of State also added that it is necessary to speed up negotiations on creation of a financing mechanism for project activities.
 
"Taking measures in the form of a roadmap to gradually increase the share of national currencies in mutual settlements, as well as creating Eurasian Financial Advisory Mechanism, would give a good impetus to such work", Tokayev said.

Tokayev also stressed the importance of strengthening transport and logistics cooperation, which is crucial for expanding trade between the SCO member states, and expressed readiness to work together to agree and sign the Road Development Program.