During his speech, he stated that over the past quarter century, the SCO has become one of the largest and most authoritative cooperation platforms in Eurasia.

According to Erlist Akunbekov, over the past four years, Kyrgyzstan’s trade turnover with SCO countries has increased 2.2-fold.

He also spoke about major infrastructure projects being implemented in Kyrgyzstan. They include:

construction of China — Kyrgyzstan — Uzbekistan road;

opening of the new Bedel checkpoint on Kyrgyz-Chinese border;

construction of Barskoon — Bedel road;

implementation of major energy projects.

«These projects are of strategic importance not only for Kyrgyzstan, but for the entire SCO region,» Erlist Akunbekov noted.

Following the forum, Kyrgyzstan signed a number of agreements:

a Memorandum of Cooperation between Bishkek Free Economic Zone (FEZ) and Brest Free Economic Zone in Belarus;

an agreement establishing sister city relations between Bishkek and the Chinese city of Zhengzhou;

a cooperation agreement between Naryn FEZ and Brest FEZ administration.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an international organization created to ensure regional security, economic and cultural cooperation among the countries of Central Asia, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus. Its main goals are to combat terrorism, extremism, and separatism, build trust, and develop economic partnerships in the region.