Speech by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Dear heads of delegations!

I express my sincere gratitude to the Chairman of the People's Republic of China, dear Mr. Xi Jinping, for the excellent organization of our meeting and the warm welcome provided.

Let me also congratulate everyone present on the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory in the Second World War, to the achievement of which our peoples made a huge contribution.

I join in the congratulations addressed to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, respected Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Japarov on the occasion of the country's Independence Day and appreciate your kind words in connection with our main national holiday.

Dear participants of the summit!

Our meeting is taking place in the city of Tianjin, which personifies the harmony of the ancient culture of China and its dynamic industrial and technological development.

Here the wise words of the great Confucius sound in a special way: “Wishing to establish yourself, help others, striving for success, contribute to the success of others.”

This thousand-year-old philosophy is fully consistent with the modern mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is based on the principles of mutual respect and support, taking into account the interests of each member state.

I believe that it is on this solid foundation that the overall development and prosperity in the SCO space is built.

I would like to emphasize that thanks to China’s fruitful chairmanship, the authority of the Organization has been further strengthened and mutually beneficial practical cooperation between our countries has expanded.

I am confident that the current summit will become a new historical milestone and will determine the strategic guidelines for cooperation in the long term.

Dear colleagues!

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, possessing enormous economic, intellectual, resource and technological potential, is consistently expanding its influence in the international arena. This is important in the context of current global uncertainty.

A systemic crisis of confidence, escalating conflicts, weakening multilateral institutions and fragmentation of the global trading system are undermining the foundations of the international architecture of security and stability. In such conditions, mutual understanding and solidarity of the SCO states is not just a valuable asset, but the key to maintaining peace in our vast region.

It is especially important that the SCO remains a space of equal dialogue, mutual respect and partnership. This is what allows us to ensure a balance of interests and together find answers to the most difficult challenges of our time.

We believe that the voice of the SCO should sound even more convincing and firm as an expression of our common political will, as a call for decisive action in the name of a peaceful future and sustainable progress.

I would like to share our vision of further deepening the multilateral partnership.

First of all, it is necessary to increase the effectiveness of the Organization, strengthen and improve its institutions and mechanisms for implementing decisions. I am confident that the process of transformation of the Organization, launched at the Samarkand Summit, will contribute to the solution of these important tasks.

We stand for the consistent expansion of the Organization, since the success of the “SCO model” lies in its openness and focus on broad cooperation. We are ready to support the aspirations of states that link their future with the SCO.

I am convinced that expanding the list of SCO dialogue partners, including to include states from other regions, will help transform the Organization into a platform for cooperation with the countries of the Global South.

Among the key priorities of the SCO is interaction in the field of security. Today there is an increasing need for coordinated approaches and new mechanisms of trust and security.

We believe that the time has come to adopt the SCO Declaration on strengthening multilateral partnerships in the name of nuclear security. The declaration will become a solid basis for the development of peaceful nuclear energy and response to emergency situations, an important contribution to the global non-proliferation regime under the auspices of the United Nations.

We share concerns about significant changes in the nature of terrorism and extremism, the growth of cybercrime, the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, and the strengthening of organized crime.

For the purpose of effective To counter all these threats, we propose to resume the work of the Meeting of Ministers of Internal Affairs and Public Security, revise the Agreement on Cooperation in the Fight against Crime, and develop a Program to Combat Drug Addiction until 2030.

We support the resumption of the work of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group. One of its main tasks could be the development of proposals for the development of constructive dialogue and support for socio-economic projects in Afghanistan.

Dear heads of delegations!

Against the background of current trends in the global economy, we attach priority importance to the expansion of trade and economic cooperation.

We stand for the formation of a sustainable model of economic cooperation in our vast region.

We consider the signing of the Agreement on simplification of trade procedures, which will give impetus to the growth of intraregional trade turnover in the SCO space.

I will emphasize the need to develop reliable production and logistics chains and stimulate mutual investments.

In this regard, we propose the creation within the SCO of a number of new multilateral platforms and instruments for supporting cooperation: the SCO Regional Center for Critical Materials for the purpose of implementation advanced technologies for the extraction and deep processing of minerals; the SCO Energy Consortium to pursue a coordinated policy and accelerated development of “green” energy in our countries; networks of venture companies and funds to support and promote startup and innovation projects; a special electronic portal for establishing business contacts and promoting investments, with the involvement of the regions of our countries.

It is important to quickly introduce effective tools for financial support of regional industrial and infrastructure projects. We propose to consider this issue again at the level of authorized ministers.

Unlocking transport and transit potential along the North-South and East-West lines meets the common interests of our countries. Of particular relevance is the development of corridors in a southern direction, running through Central Asia with access to the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

We see great opportunities for coordinating efforts to form the SCO Common Transport Space and its interface with the Belt and Road strategic initiative. This involves the creation of new multimodal networks, digital platforms and green corridors. We propose to develop an appropriate multilateral concept.

Another important priority is expanding the partnership in the field of green transformation of the SCO. I consider the Statement on Cooperation in the Field of Green Industry, adopted at the initiative of the Chinese side, timely.

It is also necessary to launch a Regional Platform on adaptation to climate change, decarbonization, and the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies to predict environmental risks.

The key factor in long-term partnership within the SCO is the further deepening of cultural ties and the strengthening of the institution of “people's diplomacy."

A powerful incentive for the development of humanitarian exchange and even greater rapprochement of our peoples could be the holding of the International Folk Art Festival, the creation of an online campus of the SCO University partner network, the organization of annual competitions and olympiads among students and young professionals in innovative areas.

In addition, we propose to work on such promising projects such as the launch of the “Tourist Corridor” and the SCO Medical Tourism Alliance.

Dear colleagues!

I take this opportunity to congratulate the respected Sadyr Nurgozhoevich on Kyrgyzstan’s assumption of the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. I wish you great success.

In conclusion of my speech, I would like to express confidence that the Tianjin Declaration, the SCO Development Strategy until 2035 and other final documents adopted today will become an important basis for building up our multifaceted interaction and effective response to modern challenges.

We are ready to continue working together to solve common problems of strengthening relations of friendship, good neighborliness and mutually beneficial cooperation within the SCO.

Thank you for your attention.

Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan