ASTANA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) vowed here Monday to accomplish more in their common development with new consensuses on deepening win-win cooperation, in the economic area in particular.
The six countries -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, will make collective efforts to strengthen the competitive edge of their economies, maintain economic stability, enhance investment environment, and expand industrial output, according to a joint statement issued after the 13th SCO prime ministers' meeting in Astana.
The countries agreed to create convenient conditions for expanding cooperation in finance, banking, technology, innovation, energy, customs, agriculture, transport and telecommunications as well.
The prime ministers of the six countries pledged to bolster investment cooperation through projects in such areas as high-tech, transport and logistics, as well as telecommunication, read the statement.
They also emphasized the significance of enhancing bilateral and multilateral coordination and cooperation in the areas of health, culture, education and tourism.
Special attention, they said, must be paid to environment protection, so as to protect the potential of natural resources in SCO countries.
The six nations also expressed support to augment trade and investment cooperation with SCO observer states, dialogue partners as well as international and regional organizations, said the statement.
Aside from the six members, the SCO, founded in 2001, has
At the meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed to cultivate new areas for regional economic cooperation and speed up regional integration.
Hailing SCO's pillar role in promoting peaceful development in Eurasia, Li told his counterparts that
Li voiced the hope that the SCO members further reduce trade and investment barriers, and improve customs clearance efficiency.
He called on SCO countries to enhance cooperation on people-to-people exchanges, and deepen counter-terrorism cooperation and collaboration on combating drug trafficking.
Li, who has paid an official visit to
The
Earlier on Monday, Li and his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov reached preliminary consensus on a capacity cooperation framework agreement worth 18 billion U.S. dollars.
The funding of the project, according to preliminary planning, will come mostly from
Li also exchanged views with his Russian counterpart on bilateral cooperation during his stay in Astana.
He told Dmitry Medvedev that
China is willing to increase investment in Russia's Far East and take part in the construction of a leap-forward development zone in the region, and will actively support Russia in playing the role of rotating SCO chair and striving for fresh and significant breakthroughs in SCO practical cooperation, Li said.
For his part, Medvedev said
Li wrapped up his