A memorandum on the obligations of the Republic of Belarus to obtain the status of a member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has been signed. This was announced to journalists by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Sergei Aleinik, following the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO held in a video format, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"Within the framework of the summit, a memorandum on the obligations of the Republic of Belarus in the process of joining the organisation as a full member state was signed. This memorandum has been signed by all countries without exception, and by the Secretary General of the organisation. The further process will be related to the ratification of this memorandum and the entire package of our obligations by all member states," said the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to him, as soon as the ratification process by all countries is completed, it will be possible to speak of Belarus's full accession to the SCO: "We expect this to happen in the near future. All necessary legislative work has been completed on our part. This refers to the simultaneous ratification of the memorandum and 47 agreements signed within the SCO by the member states, which Belarus is joining as part of this process."
Sergei Aleinik noted that all SCO leaders share similar assessments of the changes occurring in the world and strive to build a more just world order. "Today's summit has confirmed the commitment of all leaders without exception to greater cohesion, greater solidarity, respect for the core interests of the participating countries of this organisation, and the further progressive sustainable development of all member countries without exception," he said.
The Minister stated that Belarus views the SCO not only as a dialogue platform but also as an organisation that involves practical areas of cooperation. "Undoubtedly, security enhancement issues are at the forefront today. Great attention was paid to the development of trade and economic cooperation and the enhancement of the organisation's trade potential," noted Sergei Aleinik.
The Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited data according to which the current trade turnover of the SCO countries amounts to 20% of the world's total, and for Belarus, 70% of its trade turnover is with SCO members and partners.
In addition to issues of increasing the SCO's trade potential and removing existing barriers, great attention at the summit was paid to the transport and logistics component and the topic of settlements in national currencies.