[Title] Joint Communiqué Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO Member States

A regular meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held on November 2, 2007 in Tashkent. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister K. Massimov of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Premier of the State Council Wen Jiabao of the People's Republic of China, Acting Prime Minister A. Atambaev of the Kyrgyz Republic, Chairman of the Government V. Zubkov of the Russian Federation, Prime Minister A. Akilov of the Republic of Tajikistan and Prime Minister Sh. Mirziёev of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The meeting was attended and addressed by the representatives and the states observers to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (hereinafter referred to as the SCO and/or Organization): State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of India Idappakad Ahamed, First VicePresident of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pervez Daoudi, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia Mendsayhan Enkhsaikhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, as well as First Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ahmad Zia Massoud, as a guest of the host.

The SCO Secretary-General B.K. Nurgaliev and Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Antiterrorist Structure M. Subanov participated in the meeting.

In a friendly, constructive and businesslike atmosphere, the delegations of the member states discussed a wide range of important issues related to the development of trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation in the SCO framework and strengthening of peace, stability and security in the region.

Based on the outcome of the Bishkek Summit, the heads of government discussed and identified measures aimed at deepened cooperation between the SCO member states in the economic, investment, innovation, scientific, educational, cultural and other areas.

1. The Organization is focused on further expansion and deepening of trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation among the member states, promotion of their economic growth and improvement of the population welfare in the SCO.

The meeting expressed a unanimous opinion that, following the meeting of heads of government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO member states in September 2006 in Dushanbe, the efforts aimed at strengthening and expanding economic and humanitarian cooperation of the member states had considerably intensified and pilot projects had been successfully implemented.

2. The heads of government noted the positive outcome of the meeting of the SCO member states’ ministries in charge of foreign economic and trade activities that took place on 24 October 2007 in Astana and reviewed and identified specific actions to implement the Program of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation among the member states of the Organization. Targeted work aimed at implementing the decisions taken has been carried out by ad hoc and expert working groups in various areas.

3. An additional impetus to the SCO integration processes will be provided by intensified international level activities aimed at identifying priority projects and their technical and economic preparation. Intensified co-operation will be facilitated by the implementation, in close cooperation with the SCO Business Council and the Interbank Association, of large investment projects focused on infrastructure construction, basic industries, high-tech, and export-oriented sectors of the economy.

4. The heads of government expressed their satisfaction with the signing of the Agreement on Cooperation between the SCO Business Council and the Interbank Association, and noted the need to enhance effective working relationships within the Organization in order to achieve economic goals and objectives based on the principles of equality, partnership and mutual benefit.

“The Rules of Interaction of Banks - Members of the SCO Interbank Association in Selection, Expertise and Implementation of Projects” should serve as an important tool for enhancing investment activities.

5. In order to further develop and strengthen cooperation in the economic area, the heads of government have instructed the SCO Secretariat, in collaboration with the Commission of Senior Officials of ministries in charge of foreign economic and trade activities and with ad hoc working groups, to carry out an inventory of the projects envisaged by the Plan of Actions in support of the implementation of the Program of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation .

6. Taking into account the advisability of attracting additional funds for the Organization’s trade, economic and investment activities, inter alia, for accelerating pilot projects, the heads of government consider it necessary to speed up the review of issues related to the establishment of the SCO Development Fund.

7. The heads of government attach great importance to the first meeting of the heads of ministries and departments in charge of fuel and energy sector held on June 29, 2007 in Moscow that discussed the prospects of cooperation in the field of energy, including the issue of comparison of the member states’ respective national strategies. They stressed the need for close cooperation in the development of common approaches of the member states in this area. To that end, the agenda of the regular meetings of the ad hoc Working Group on Energy in 2008 will include the review of the practical implementation of the agreements reached at the above meeting.

8. The heads of government note the importance of an early finalization of the SCO’s draft Concept on cooperation in the field of environmental protection, as well as the need for practical cooperation in the rational and efficient use of water and energy resources in the region.

9. The heads of government have noted that the implementation of the pilot project “Electronic transnational cooperation based on electronic digital signature” selected by the ad hoc Working Group on modern information and telecommunication technologies, will strengthen the SCO investment activities in the area of high technologies.

They have expressed willingness to promote the SCO cooperation in science based industries and creation of modern production through joint investment projects.

10. The heads of government note that finalization of the draft intergovernmental Agreement on Creating Favorable Conditions for International Road Transport will contribute to further cooperation in the transport sector.

11. The meeting accentuated the urgency of speedy implementation of the pilot projects“Simultaneous construction of roads Volgograd-Astrakhan-Atyrau-Beyneu-Kungrad and Aktau-Beyneu-Kungrad as part of the international transport E-40 route including construction of the bridge across Kigach rive” and “Development of motor route Osh-Sary Tash-Irkeshtam Kashgar, Bratstvo-Dushanbe-Karamyk-Irkeshtam-Kashi including construction of transshipment terminal for multimodal transport in Kashgar (China)”. The meeting has expressed the general desire to synchronize the construction of highways “Volgograd-Astrakhan-Atyrau-Beyneu-Kungrad” and “Aktau-Beineu-Kungrad” as part of the international transport route E-40.

12. The heads of government consider relevant to review issues of cooperation in the field of rail transport, including through further development of the railway network in the region, that will contribute to intensified trade and economic cooperation between the SCO member states. In this regard, relevant ministries and agencies of the member states are advised to review new SCO’s transport projects.

13. The heads of government welcome the signing at the meeting of the Agreement between the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters. The ad hoc Working Group on Customs Cooperation has been instructed to continue review of issues related to the creation of conditions for unification of customs, administrative and transport procedures and mutual recognition of customs documents.

14. The heads of government consider it advisable to establish and develop cooperation of the member states of the Organization in agriculture, inter alia, through the involvement of the SCO Business Council potential.

15. Noting the importance of signing the Agreement between the Governments of the SCO member states on Cooperation in Culture, the heads of government have assigned the SCO Secretariat, jointly with the Expert Working Group on Developing Cooperation in Culture, to prepare specific proposals for the implementation of this document.

16. The Expert Working Group on Cooperation in Education has been instructed to expedite the approval of the Action Plan for implementation of the Agreement between the Governments of the SCO Member States on Cooperation in Education of June 15, 2006.

17. The heads of government welcomed the launch of health sector cooperation. The SCO Secretariat, in collaboration with the experts of the Organization’s member states, has been mandated to develop a plan of cooperation between ministries and agencies responsible for public health issues, including identification of priority areas for such cooperation.

18. While appreciating cooperation between the state tourism authorities of the SCO member states, the heads of government consider it expedient to finalize an agreement on a relevant program.

19. As requested by the Council of Heads of State of the Organization’s members, the heads of government approved the new structure and staffing of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure.

20. The heads of government considered a number of financial issues related to the SCO operation and approved the budget of the Organization for 2008.

It has been agreed that the next meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO member states will be held in 2008 in the Republic of Kazakhstan.