SCO agriculture ministers hold a regular meeting

The 3rd SCO Agriculture Ministers Meeting was held on October 9. It was chaired by Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov. This was the first meeting attended by delegates from the member states, observer states and dialogue partners.

The SCO region has considerable potential: together with observer states and dialogue partners, it has a combined population of over 3.5 billion people, and annual trade between regional states is estimated at $16.9 billion, Mr. Fyodorov said in his opening remarks.ministers discussed comprehensive development of bilateral and multilateral agricultural cooperation and joint implementation of innovative high-tech projects and research studies. They also stressed the need for the SCO Interbank Consortium and Business Council to contribute to the implementation of agricultural projects.

The agriculture ministers focused on food security cooperation and approved an action plan for 2015-2016 aimed at implementing the SCO Agreement on Cooperation in Agriculture, signed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on June 11,2010.