MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will chair a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government in Moscow on November 17-18, the Russian cabinet said in a statement.
"The meeting is expected to consider priority issues related to the strengthening of trade, economic, investment, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation within the SCO," the statement reads.
The Russian prime minister will also hold a number of bilateral meetings with the heads of the participating delegations.
The meeting will mark the final event of Russia’s presidency of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in 2024-2025. Participants will discuss measures aimed at the comprehensive and steady implementation of the 2035 SCO Development Strategy. They will pay special attention to ways to expand trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian ties, as well as cooperation in the fields of digital economy, energy, green industries, artificial intelligence, science, innovation, education, culture, tourism, healthcare, sports, and youth communication.
Apart from the organization’s member states, high-ranking officials from dialogue partners and observer nations, as well as from other interested countries, have also been invited to take part in the meeting, along with representatives of a number of international organizations, including the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.
Participants in the meeting are expected to adopt a joint communique. In addition, SCO nations will express a consolidated position in favor of an open, fair, and equal multilateral trade system in a statement on the economic situation in the world and the SCO space.
Under Russia’s rotating presidency, the SCO Council of Heads of Government focused on creating an additional impetus for and improving trade and economic cooperation within the organization.