India hosts 19th Meeting of SCO Ministers of Foreign Economy & Foreign Trade

India on Wednesday hosted the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers of Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade.

In his opening remarks, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said the current crisis due to Covid-19 is a clarion call to the SCO countries to leverage the economic strength and explore partnerships that enhance trade and investment in the region.

Piyush Goyal in a tweet said, "Attended the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting & called upon member countries to explore partnerships to enhance trade & investment in the region. Also, reinforced the need for greater cooperation in intellectual property, access to medicines & growth of MSMEs."

He said cooperation should be continued to enhance intra-SCO trade and investment which would be critical in ensuring the speedy recovery from the aftermath of the pandemic.

Four documents were adopted in the 19th SCO Ministers meeting:

1) Response to COVID-19: Reinforces the need for greater cooperation for access to medicines

2) Multilateral Trading System: The facilitation of trade and statement on the Multilateral Trading System of Ministers of SCO Countries who are WTO Members was adopted at the meet. This statement highlights the importance of the rule-based multilateral negotiations.

3) Cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): Statement on SCO Cooperation on IPR was also adopted which relates to the cooperation of intellectual property and include sharing information and experience on legislation and enforcement, cooperation in international organisations and other areas.

Cooperation in the field of MSMEs.

These are important milestones for SCO solidarity.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep Singh Puri also spoke on the occasion. The virtual meeting was attended by the Secretary-General of SCO and Ministers from Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.