Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the SCO is approaching its climax. On 15-16 September, the city of Samarkand will host a grandiose historical event - the Summit of the heads of the SCO member states, which will attract the attention of the entire world community.

The heightened interest in the Samarkand summit, first of all, is associated with a particularly representative composition of the participants in the upcoming event, including the leaders of 15 states, high-ranking delegations of the UN, the CIS and a number of other international organizations.

On the eve of such a large-scale event, it is necessary to sum up and recall the features of Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the SCO.

It is important to note here that our country approached this honorable but difficult mission very responsibly from the very beginning.

Despite the difficulties associated with the pandemic and global economic stagnation, Uzbekistan has effectively and consistently contributed to strengthening cooperation within the Organization and has worked tirelessly to enhance its international image.

Strengthening the potential and authority of the SCO, intensifying efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region, reducing poverty and ensuring food security were identified among the main priorities and tasks of the chairmanship of Uzbekistan.

As part of the implementation of the tasks noted, almost 100 events have been successfully held to date, of which more than 20 are at the level of heads of relevant ministries and departments, two of which are organized by Uzbekistan for the first time. In particular, meetings of the heads of ministries and departments on the issues of poverty reduction and development of information and communication technologies.

The Uzbek side has introduced new approaches and formats in organizing events. Thus, an effective practice was launched to hold meetings of the heads of relevant ministries and departments, as well as meetings of the SCO Council of National Coordinators in various regions of the country.

Such an extraordinary approach allowed Uzbekistan’s partners in the SCO to become better acquainted with the potential of the regions of our country. The events were held not only in Tashkent, but also in Nukus, Bukhara, Ferghana, Khiva, Samarkand.

Moreover, only in the period from June to July of this year, Uzbekistan held a number of major events, including meetings of the ministers of health, energy, industry, agriculture, and foreign affairs of the SCO member states.

Along with this, new areas of cooperation within the SCO were launched, which contributed to the enrichment of the agenda, taking into account modern realities. Thus, at the initiative of Uzbekistan, this year, for the first time, a competition for the best startup project among the youth of the SCO countries, an e-sports championship, as well as an SCO scientific and expert forum on information security were organized.

Another evidence of the great attention paid to the chairmanship of Tashkent in the SCO is the conceptual article of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev entitled: "Samarkand SCO summit: dialogue and cooperation in an interconnected world."

In it, the Head of State clearly outlined his vision on the fundamental aspects of Uzbekistan’s relations with the SCO, including the priorities and prospects for the development of this organization during our chairmanship and after it.

The article emphasizes that under the slogan “The SCO is strong if each of us is strong”, Uzbekistan has made serious efforts to make the Organization even stronger from the inside and more attractive from the outside for international partners.

In this regard, as the President noted, “during its chairmanship, Uzbekistan has relied on the strategy of advanced development of the Organization by opening new horizons for cooperation and launching idle reserves that each of its participants has.”

As a result of hard work, in one year Uzbekistan managed to initiate, coordinate and complete the process of agreeing on more than 30 SCO documents, most of which are of a strategically important and practical nature. They are aimed at a meaningful expansion of the spheres of interaction in the SCO.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that Uzbekistan has fully coped with all the tasks assigned to it for the successful implementation of the chairmanship in the SCO.

Undoubtedly, the upcoming Samarkand summit will give a powerful impetus to the further development of the SCO and bring the multifaceted interaction of the member countries of the association to a qualitatively new level.

As a result, the baton of chairmanship in the Organization for the first time will pass to India, which will continue to work on solving urgent problems on the agenda of the SCO.

Azamat Sulimanov,

Leading Researcher at ISMI

under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan