VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Russia's partners endorsed its intention to hold the 2008-2009 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation rotating presidency and host the top-level SCO summit in 2009, which the parties confirmed in their joint communiqué of August 16, 2007 in the wake of the Bishkek summit.
Russia set up the Organising Committee on the Preparation and Ensuring of Russian Presidency of the SCO in 2008-2009, and adopted the body's statute (see the Russian President's executive order №163-rp of April 13, 2007), and appointed Sergei Prikhodko as the Organising Committee's head.
On November 27, 2007 the Russian President adopted the Concept of Russian SCO Presidency in 2008-2009, and on December 24, 2007 - a general Action Plan.
The Interdepartmental Commission for Russia's Participation in SCO Activities is responsible for coordinating the SCO-related work of Russian agencies and other organisations.
Russia sees the following tasks as the Organisation's priorities:
- Further consolidation of SCO members' efforts in accordance with the SCO Charter and other basic SCO documents.
- Realisation of the long-term friendship, good-neighbour and cooperation treaty, which is aimed at consolidating the alliance's stance as an effective mechanism of countering new threats and challenges, ensuring peace, and giving added impetus to cooperation in the economy, transportation, environmental protection, culture, education and healthcare.
- Boosting the SCO's international prestige as an innovative interstate body, whose activity is in line with the newly created multi-polar world order.
Ensuring peace, security and stability
Russia will channel the SCO members' combined efforts to combat terrorism, extremism and separatism, and expand the legal cooperation base in this area, including reaching agreements for joint responses to developments that jeopardise peace, security and stability in the region.
Russia and its partners will continue to improve the activity of the Regional Counter-Terrorism SCO structure, and boost its coordinating role in realising cooperation programmes to counter terrorism, separatism and extremism in 2007-2009.
Russia will make necessary steps to realise its initiative for launching regular meetings of SCO Interior and Public Security Ministers. They will coordinate the fight against trans-border criminal activity, laundering money, human trafficking and illegal migration.
Russia believes that it is necessary to encourage the realisation of the Tashkent agreement of 2004. The agreement suggests developing SCO members' cooperation in countering illegal trafficking of narcotics and mood-altering substances, as well as their precursors; working out possible interaction mechanisms; and developing dialogue in this area with other international organisations (CSTO, ASEAN, EU, and NATO).
Russia and its Central Asian partners' security interests require intensified efforts to curtail the threats that emanate from Afghanistan. Russia suggests coordinating regional approaches with SCO members, other countries concerned and international organisations to resolve Afghanistan's problems; convening an international conference on Afghanistan under the auspices of the SCO; forming a counter-terrorism security belt around Afghanistan; and developing cooperation among SCO members' financial intelligence units.
Russia's presidency will promote practical partnership among SCO disaster relief agencies.
Russia believes it sound to promote cooperation in international information security (IIS) by drafting a corresponding inter-governmental agreement, which would outline the means and tools to comprehensively address the IIS problem within the framework of the SCO.
Defence interaction will proceed based on the assumption that the SCO is not a military-political bloc - its activity should not overlap with the activity of the CSTO, which also operates in Central Asia.
Economic cooperation
Direct economic cooperation is planned with the goals of expanding interaction in the energy sector, energy security, IT, transport and communications, and other areas.
Certain steps will be made to improve joint activity with observer-states, as well as with other countries concerned and multi-faceted bodies.
The SCO Business Council and the Interbank Association will be fully engaged in economic activity.
Economic cooperation will advance by taking into account the fact that the SCO is not an integration union and is not aimed at forming a common market.
Cultural cooperation
During its SCO presidency, Russia plans to continue forming a legal basis for cultural cooperation, which would contribute to inter-civilisation and inter-cultural communication within the SCO, as well as strengthen the Russian language and Russian cultural impact in SCO states.
SCO members should primarily focus on coordinating efforts to improve national higher education and vocational education systems.
The SCO will take further steps to create the SCO University as a network of SCO members' universities with a common curriculum designed to train highly skilled specialists, sure to be in demand on the market.
Healthcare is a promising area. Russia is in favour of making SCO healthcare ministers' meetings regular and effective in coordinating efforts to combat epidemics and pandemics in the first place. The SCO Business Council is working on a number of related projects.
Much attention will be given to the realisation of several youth organisations' initiatives to set up the SCO Youth Association.
International activity
During Russia's SCO presidency, there are plans to intensify joint efforts to improve foreign policy interaction and the coordination of SCO members' activities, both at regular consultations of Foreign Ministers, and within the UN and other international organisations.
Russia and its partners intend to study the prospects and formats of the active SCO involvement in advancing development initiatives for inter-civilisation and inter-denominational dialogue.
