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SCO Has Broad Prospects, Stresses Kyrgyzstan PM
Kurmanbek Bakiev, prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, pointed out during an interview with our staff reporters in Bishket on July 6 that the just established Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has broad prospects for development, and indicated that he had great hope on the first summit meeting of the heads of government of the SCO soon to be held in Alma-Ata.
During the interview, Prime Minister Bakiev specially mentioned the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and extended warm congratulations to the CPC on its 80th birthday.
Bakiev said the SCO grew out of the "Shanghai Five" mechanism. This indicated that after five years of efforts, the initial aim of the "Shanghai Five" mechanism had been achieved and there was the need for further development, it had developed from the early consultation mechanism for cooperation in solving the boundary issue into an organization of extensive cooperation in the economic, political and other fields. All member States of the SCO support the establishment of an international anti-terrorism center in Kyrgyzstan. This center will coordinate the actions of the six nations in attacking the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, "I believe the SCO has extremely broad vistas for development," said the prime minister.
While speaking about the first summit meeting of the heads of government of the SCO member States to be held this summer in Alma-Ata, Bakiev said the establishment of the SCO had opened a new chapter on the summit meeting of heads of government of the member States. Developing economic and trade relations within the SCO framework represents the orientation for priority development of all Central Asian countries. The Central Asian region is the connective point on the "Silk Road". We support the proposal for convening the summit meeting of the heads of government of SCO member States. I believe the founding of the SCO helps promote economic and trade cooperation among member States, boost the growth of mutual trade volume and thus spur mutual cooperation between countries and further establish a relationship of mutual trust. Therefore, we cherish great hope for this meeting. We also support the development of cooperation between member States in the cultural field within the framework of the SCO.
The end of 2001 will be the 10th anniversary of the independence of Kyrgyzstan, and January 5, 2002 will be the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kyrgyzstan. While talking about the relations between China and Kyrgyzstan, Bakiev said over the past decade, our two countries had gone through a very fruitful road, the most important thing was that we had established ties of mutual trust, particularly when the southern part of our country was encroached upon by international terrorists, China gave us great support. He said, "we greatly value the friendly relations between Kyrgyzstan and China. President Askar Akayev and President Jiang Zemin have made great contributions to this. Over the past decade, China has adopted a constructive stand in its policy toward Central Asia, which has played a very important role in the development of Central Asian countries." He said that the economic and trade cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China had developed smoothly, for example, the paper mill jointly set up in Tokmak by the two countries had gone into operation last year. He believed this would bring benefits to Kyrgyzstan's economic development. The prime minister finally indicated, saying, "I believe the prospect is broad for economic and trade cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and China, the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries will develop smoothly."
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