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Medvedev to meet Kazakhstan leader, attend SCO council of premiers in Astana

A joint communiquй will be adopted, several decisions will be taken, particularly a SCO budget will be approved and amendments will be introduced in financial regulations upon results of the meeting

ASTANA, December 14. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will arrive in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana Sunday to meet the Kazakh president and to participate in a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) due on December 15.

The Russian premier came to Kazakhstan on Saturday. On the same day he met Prime Minister of that country Karim Masimov in Almaty discussing bilateral relations and Eurasian integration with him. The Russian head of government will meet Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Sunday.

“High on the agenda is the entire scope of trade and economic bilateral co-operation. Meanwhile, negotiators will talk Russia’s assistance to Kazakhstan’s preparation to the Winter Olympics 2022,” an official in the staff of Russian government commented on forthcoming meeting.

Stronger trade and economic and humanitarian ties between SCO states and partnership between different countries “with due account of current changes in global and regional economy” are planned to discuss at a meeting of the SCO council on Monday. Medvedev is expected to hold several bipartite meetings with heads of foreign delegations on the sidelines of the council session.

“One of key tasks is development of project activities and creation of an optimal mechanism of financial support for this,” the government official said. Meanwhile, participants in the meeting would work out further steps to develop partnership to ensure food security in the SCO states, he added.

A joint communiquй will be adopted, several decisions will be taken, particularly a SCO budget for 2015 will be approved and amendments will be introduced in financial regulations upon results of the meeting. Several documents for broader ties between customs services of the SCO states are also being prepared for signing.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation was established in 2001 on the basis of the so-called Shanghai Five assembling Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan since 1996 /the Shanghai forum since 2000/.

Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are presently SCO states. The status of observer is granted to Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In September Pakistan and India filed official bids for accession to the SCO, Iran also claims for full-fledged membership in the organisation. Sri Lanka and Armenia applied for an observer status. Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey have the status of a dialogue partner in the SCO.

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