From 3 to 4 July, a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is taking place in Astana, at which its members - heads of state - are considering issues of political, economic and cultural-humanitarian cooperation.
According to the government press service, the SCO was founded in 2001 by six countries — Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Later, Iran, India and Pakistan joined the organisation. It is also expected that Belarus will become an SCO member at the summit in Astana.
Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in July 2023. At that time, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that during its chairmanship, Kazakhstan would present the initiative "On World Unity for a Just Peace and Harmony", the main task of which would be to prevent a geopolitical rift between the East and the West.
At the same time, the SCO members unanimously supported Kazakhstan's initiative to declare 2024 the SCO Year of Ecology. In October 2023, the SCO Council of Heads of Government developed and approved a corresponding action plan.
It is reported that over 5 years, Kazakhstan's trade turnover with SCO countries grew by 56.5%, reaching $66 billion. From January to April 2024, the volume of mutual trade within the organisation amounted to $19.1 billion.
As is known, the first to arrive in Astana on 2 July for the SCO summit was the Chairman of the PRC, Xi Jinping, followed on the morning of 3 July by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and the President of Mongolia, Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh. By midday, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, flew in. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, also arrived in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, it became known that talks between Xi Jinping and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had already taken place at the Akorda residence. It is reported that the heads of the republics took part in the ceremony launching the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (China-Europe). The joint launch was conducted via video link.