MOSCOW, January 1. /TASS/. Uzbekistan, as part of its chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, plans to hold more than 80 international events, develop a program for boosting trade inside the region and step up the engagement of member countries in the area of security in 2022.

As a priority, Uzbekistan will seek to invigorate economic cooperation and raise the alliance’s security potential. Tashkent intends to expand the SCO agenda by including new items, such as the creation of mechanisms for the development of digital technologies and innovation. In light of the ongoing pandemic, the reinforcement of cooperation in the health area will remain a pressing goal.

The country has developed a special roadmap and concept for its chairmanship.

"There is no doubt that all the events under the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO will be held at the highest level," Abdulaziz Kamilov, the nation’s foreign minister, said. The next meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council will be held on September 15-16 in Uzbekistan, which, according to Kamilov, raises an opportunity to unlock the organization’s potential in a new way and to strengthen its role and significance.

At a summit in Dushanbe in September 2021, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev outlined the priorities and tasks of the chairmanship. These include efforts to raise the potential and authority of the organization, ensure peace and stability in the region, reduce poverty and ensure food security.

Uzbekistan called for putting together a plan for the development of intraregional trade, which will include measures to eliminate trade barriers, align technical regulations and digitalize customs procedures. Mirziyoyev proposed the establishment of an expert forum on information security and to introduce the position of the SCO Goodwill Ambassador. Other priorities include the adoption of a program for industrial cooperation, the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism and a program for infrastructure development across the SCO area.

In connection with the tensions in Afghanistan, Mirziyoyev noted the need for a unified approach to the situation in this country, and also suggested holding regular high-level meetings in the SCO-Afghanistan format, expressing his readiness to organize the first of them in Tashkent. According to Uzbekistan’s coordinator for SCO affairs, Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov, the country has already begun preparations for this meeting, and it is expected to be held this year.

Uzbekistan took over the chairmanship of the organization from Tajikistan on September 17, 2021, following a meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Russia expects that Uzbekistan, as part of its chairmanship, will successfully take on the challenges facing the organization. Uzbekistan has chaired the SCO three times: in 2004, 2010 and 2016.