Kazakhstan calls for strengthening energy cooperation within SCO

Astana [kazakhstan], July 5 (ANI): Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday called for strengthening energy cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which includes Russia, China and India.
In a virtual summit, under India's presidency, the Kazakh President said that the country is ready to host an SCO energy forum and proposed developing a joint energy strategy for the organisation over the next year, the Kazakh government said in a release.
He further stated that the SCO is a successful multilateral association with significant international authority, accounting for a quarter of the global GDP and more than 15 per cent of international trade.
President Tokayev outlined priorities of strategic importance under Kazakhstan's upcoming chairmanship of the SCO.
The first one is ensuring security and stability in the SCO space, in which the President suggested that the main task of the SCO countries should be to prevent a geopolitical rift between East and West. Under the framework of its chairmanship, Kazakhstan will present the initiative "On world unity for a just peace and harmony."
Highlighting the fight against the "three forces of evil" - transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, and cybercrime, Tokayev said that these will remain a priority during Kazakhstan's chairmanship.
He also proposed to update the Program of Cooperation on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism for 2025-2027 and adopt the SCO Anti-Drug Strategy for 2024-2029 and the Action Program for its implementation.
Secondly, the expansion of trade and economic ties, where the President said that the Council of Heads of Government should consider the possibility of creating a joint Investment Fund and make proposals on this project.
"An effective platform for stimulating direct and portfolio investments in regional SCO projects can be the Astana International Financial Centre," the statement read.
Another point is strengthening energy cooperation where President is ready to hold the SCO Energy Forum.
The fourth point was the expansion of cooperation in the digital sphere. In this, the President emphasised that the systematic reduction of the digital divide should become a priority in the activities of the SCO.
The fifth point is to Strengthen cooperation in the field of ecology. He said that it is necessary to establish partnership relations between the SCO and the UN Environment Program. Also, it is important to develop an agreement on cooperation in the field of environmental protection.
And the last point was the development of cultural and humanitarian ties, in which the President proposed to declare the city of Almaty the tourist and cultural capital of the SCO, under its presidency.
It is proposed to launch the SCO Spiritual Sanctuaries project. In Kazakhstan, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassawi is a world-significance shrine.
SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organisation. It is the world's largest regional organisation in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60 per cent of the area of Eurasia, and 40 per cent of the world population.
It was founded in June 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. (ANI)