The consensus reached at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Russia will give a significant boost to the region's efforts to address the global financial crisis, build closer economic links and strengthen security cooperation.

As the financial crisis continues to spread, the SCO leaders met in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Ural mountains, to hammer out regional solutions to mitigate the impact of a crisis not seen in decades, stressing the need to foster stronger economic links and expand trade. At the summit, they expressed hope to strengthen practical cooperation by implementing joint projects to tackle the crisis.

In a declaration signed at the summit, the leaders said member states need to speed up efforts to implement joint projects in energy, transport and telecommunications, push forward cooperation in emerging industries and facilitate trade and investment. They also called for redoubled efforts to tap the potential of the observer nations and dialogue partners to expand cooperation with them.

It is widely believed that cooperation will be expanded as the six member states -- China, Russia and the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- work together to overcome the economic woes brought by the financial crisis.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was invited to the Yekaterinburg summit, at which the SCO leaders discussed measures to help Afghanistan fight terrorism, drug trafficking and trans-national organized crime -- threats that have raised concern in member states, particularly the Central Asian members and Russia.

In the face of new threats to stability and security brought about by the financial crisis, which has dragged some countries into economic recession, the SCO has boosted its cooperation with the Afghan government and other parties in a bid to improve the situation in the nation. Among other moves, it sponsored an international conference on Afghanistan in Moscow in March.

In the summit declaration, the leaders stressed the need to step up the interaction of the SCO observer nations with Afghanistan and other interested countries and international organizations, primarily the United Nations.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev underlined the importance of helping Afghanistan economically.

"The situation in Afghanistan or in certain provinces of Pakistan will never normalize if we fail to resolve urgent economic problems. To this end, it is necessary to implement a number of infrastructure projects in the energy, road construction and other sectors," Medvedev told a press conference following the summit.

DIALOGUE PARTNERS

As a regional organization committed to safeguarding regional stability and security and seeking common development, the SCO has been growing in influence and external exchanges. Many nations have expressed the wish to establish cooperation with the SCO since Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran and India became observers to the organization.

In a move to extend its external links, the SCO granted Sri Lanka and Belarus the status of dialogue partners at the Yekaterinburg summit.

Also at the summit, the SCO forged closer links with the observer nations with their participation in the restricted format of the summit meeting, at which the SCO leaders expressed

readiness to strengthen cooperation with observer nations in fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, as well as in boosting economic and cultural exchanges.

Source:Xinhua