On April 29, 2003, the routine conference of the
foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
was held in Almaty, former capital of Kazakhstan. Chinese
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing led a delegation to attend the
conference and delivered a speech.
In his
speech, Li spoke highly of the headway that has been made by
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in its organization
building and other areas since last yearÂ’s St.
Petersburg summit. On the future work of the Organization,
Li said that the organizational setup should be sped up and
preparations for the official launching of the Secretariat
should be accelerated; security cooperation should be
deepened and broadened and a regional anti-terrorism agency
should be put in place as soon as possible to combat
terrorism, separatism and extremism; anti-drug cooperation
should be conducted at an early date; economic cooperation
should be promoted and countries should come up with
practical and feasible development programs and decide on
and launch several workable cooperation projects; and the
Organization should intensify its contacts with the outside
so as to engage in world affairs in a more open and active
manner.
The foreign ministers of Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan and vice foreign minister
of Uzbekistan also delivered speeches, in which they
elaborated on their positions on the organization building,
economic development and trade, anti-terrorism and anti-drug
as well as on such international issues as Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Upon its conclusion, the
conference endorsed several documents including a draft
resolution on the codes of different agencies of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization which will be subject to
the review of the Moscow summit of the Organization to be
held this May. The conference also issued a press
communiqué. The foreign ministers of China, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan and vice foreign minister
of Uzbekistan met with the press after the conference.
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