Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 16 May 2022, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov met with the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Zhang Ming, who arrived in our country on a visit.

During the conversation, the state and prospects of multifaceted cooperation between Uzbekistan and the SCO were discussed.

Issues related to the preparation and holding of events under the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO were considered. The parties noted the successful holding of more than 40 events of the Organization under the Uzbek chairmanship, discussed organizational issues and the agenda of high-level meetings scheduled for May-September this year.

It was noted that, at the initiative of Uzbekistan, new areas of cooperation within the SCO were launched, which contribute to the enrichment of its agenda, taking into account modern realities. Thus, for the first time, ministerial meetings of the SCO member states on information and communication technologies, poverty reduction were held, and on May 17, the first meeting of the heads of departments responsible for plant quarantine will be held in Tashkent.

The SCO Secretary-General highly appreciated the preparations for the main event - the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO on 15-16 September 2022, the large-scale work carried out by our country on the content of the Samarkand summit. In this context, the parties stressed the need to continue active efforts to speed up the process of agreeing on the documents planned for signing within the framework of the upcoming summit.

An exchange of views took place on the further development of the activities of the SCO, increasing its authority in the international arena.

The talks also considered certain issues on the international and regional agenda, including the current situation in Afghanistan.