¡¡¡¡TASHKENT, June 17 (Xinhua) -- China has decided to offer a
total of 900 million US dollars of preferential buyer's credit loans to the
other five members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Chinese
President Hu Jintao announced here Thursday.
¡¡¡¡Hu made the remarks in a speech at the annual summit
meeting of the SCO that was attended by presidents of Russia and other four
central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
¡¡¡¡China made the decision with the aim to boost economic
cooperation and trade among members of the SCO, he said, adding the economic
cooperation and the fight against three forces of terrorism, separatism and
extremism are the two key areas the SCO should work on.
¡¡¡¡"We should fully take advantage of the high complementary
economy among members and the rich natural resources and start cooperation in
various forms," Hu said.
¡¡¡¡The SCO has decided to establish five specialized working
groups concerning e-commerce, customs, quality inspection, investment promotion
and transportation facilitation.
¡¡¡¡Hu said that five groups should start to work as soon as
possible and put forward proposals for closer economic cooperation among the
members.
¡¡¡¡Security has been a priority issue of the SCO, which was
founded by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in
2001 in Shanghai. The six members adopted a joint convention on the fighting
against "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism when it was
founded.
¡¡¡¡At the current meeting, the six countries adopted an
agreement on the cooperation in the fighting against illegal dealing on drugs.
¡¡¡¡Members should also expand cooperation in culture,
education, science and technology, tourism and press, Hu said.
¡¡¡¡In addition, Hu stressed that the SCO should participate
in world and regional affairs in a constructive and open manner, and "make
greater contribution to world peace and development."
¡¡¡¡"Over the past three years, the SCO has made a firm step
forward to reach its fundamental goal of ensuring sustained peace and
development among member countries," he said. "The SCO has become a path of
strengthening mutual trust and cooperation, a mechanism to effectively promote
regional security, stability and development, and a constructive force in world
and regional affairs."
¡¡¡¡Other members of the SCO have put forward their proposals
in different areas.
¡¡¡¡Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the SCO should
find better ways to implement relevant agreements and cooperative documents.
¡¡¡¡Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said members should
strengthen cooperation in areas of energy and transportation.
¡¡¡¡Russian President Vladimir Putin said a peaceful
reconstruction of Afghanistan is of vital importance to central Asia's
stability. He proposed to establish a liaison mechanism between the SCO and
Afghanistan.
¡¡¡¡Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov proposed to fully
exploit the role of the SCO Secretariat and the Regional Anti-Terrorist
Structure to meet challenges.
¡¡¡¡Uzbek President Islam Karimov proposed to establish a
Central Asia Common Market.
¡¡¡¡The six heads of state agreed that next year's summit
meeting will be held in Kazakhstan.
¡¡¡¡Following their half-day meeting, the presidents signed a
number of documents including the Tashkent Declaration, and agreements on
jointly cracking down on drugs and spiritual medicines, among others.
Enditem