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SCO Secretary-General calls for continuing efforts to establish SCO special account

TASHKENT, December 16. /ITAR-TASS/. Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Dmitry Mezentsev said the SCO summits decided to continue the work on establish the organisation’s special account and a development bank.

Mezentsev called for developing the SCO transport potential and improving the transport infrastructure.

At a meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday, the SCO secretary-general said it was necessary to expand trade and economic cooperation. He called for renovating a plan to implement a program for trade and economic cooperation in 2014-2015.

Mezentsev and Rakhmon discussed Tajikistan’s chairmanship in 2014 and preparations for the SCO summit due to take place in the autumn 2014 ahead of the SCO Business Forum, which will involve businessmen from the six member-countries, the observer states and the SCO dialogue partners.

Mezentsev stressed the important principle of the SCO chairmanship’s “token passing”, which will help combine chairmanship of one country with plans of a country, which will “take up the token passing”.

While discussing Afghanistan, Mezentsev and Rakhmon praised the U.N. central role. The SCO secretary-general noted the big role by the Tajik ambassador to the U.N. in preparing a draft resolution due to be submitted to the 69th session of the U.N. General Assembly in the autumn 2014.

Rakhmon praised Tajikistan’s success in fighting illicit drug trafficking and the country’s readiness to exchange experience with other SCO countries, and strengthen cooperation in this field.

The Tajik president said it was necessary to expand multilateral cooperation with the observer countries in compliance with the SCO normative base.

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