MINSK, 17 September (BelTA) – Free Economic Zone Minsk (FEZ Minsk) took part in the 4th SCO Heads of Regions Forum in Omsk, Russia on 17-19 September, BelTA learned from the FEZ press service.
Participating in the forum were about 500 people: delegations from 14 Russia’s federal subjects, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and India, and business representatives from Nigeria, UAE and Japan.
"Omsk offered us a busy schedule. We expect good results. During the event, we presented the opportunities of our free economic zone in terms of potential investment and also industrial cooperation with Russian enterprises," First Deputy Head of FEZ Minsk Administration Sergei Bubenko said.
The forum was aimed at deepening interregional cooperation between SCO member states in trade, economy, investment, science, technology, culture, humanitarian and other priority areas. Nowadays, the SCO unites ten countries with a total population of over 3.5 billion.
The business forum started with a plenary session to discuss production cooperation, the challenges of the 21st century and opportunities to solve them. The participants of the forum enjoyed an extensive program: business negotiations, panel discussions and cultural events. The business program included panel sessions on development of cooperation chains in the regions of the SCO member states, interregional cooperation as a strategic way to sustainable development of the regions of the SCO member states and others. The forum discussed the role of regions in the development of the SCO logistics routes, prospects for cooperation between regions in agriculture and industry, best practices in achieving sustainable development goals.