Opinions & Interviews

DUSHANBE, 12 October (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to work together with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to improve food security and nuclear safety, Belarus Prime Minister Sergei Rumas said at a meeting of the SCO Heads of Government Council in Dushanbe on 12 October, BelTA has learned.

Located in the geographical center of Europe Belarus views the SCO economic dimension as a priority element of the organization. In this regard Belarus, as the initiator of the “integration of integrations” idea aims to identify new points of interaction in Big Eurasia and to foster practical economic and investment cooperation in the SCO.

“At the SCO Summit in Qingdao the Belarusian president made proposals that we are ready to fill with real content,” Sergei Rumas said.

First and foremost, this is food security. “As the Belarusian president noted, with the expansion of the SCO the mater of food security of our region comes to the fore. We are ready to work actively to contribute to the SCO food security,” the prime minister said.

In June 2019 Minsk will host the international agricultural expo Belagro which will run an Agro-SCO platform. Sergei Rumas invited all countries to attend this platform and demonstrate their achievements in agriculture.

Another area is the strengthening of nuclear safety and the use of peaceful atom. Sharing the principles known as Shanghai Spirit, Belarus is actively developing cooperation in nuclear safety, the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes enshrined in the SCO Astana Declaration.

The prime minister suggested deepening scientific cooperation in nuclear safety between the institutions of the CIS countries responsible for this.

The agenda also includes information security. “We should not focus on the restrictions and blocking access. We should develop a competitive alternative. I propose to establish cooperation between mass media of our countries,” Sergei Rumas said.

“Considering the huge potential of each of the SCO countries in various areas (industry, agriculture, pharmacy, high technologies), we should consider the implementation of specific projects that will drive economic development forward. I would like to emphasize our openness to the most ambitious and innovative initiatives, commitment to mutually beneficial partnership with the SCO member states, observers, and dialogue partners,” the prime minister noted.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001. The member states are India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Belarus changed the status of the SCO dialogue partner to observer in 2015.