Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretary General Ambassador Zhang Ming is set to meet select ministers, business community and entrepreneurs during his visit to Pakistan from July 21 to July 24, stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement on Wednesday. The SCO chief will land in Islamabad today (Thursday).
In a curtain raiser for the visit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization secretary general, the MoFA stated that Zhang would head a delegation comprising officials from the SCO secretariat based in Beijing.
“During his stay, the secretary general will have meetings with the foreign minister as well as ministers of commerce, climate change, information technology and maritime affairs,” the statement said.
“He will also speak at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and engage with business leaders and entrepreneurs.”
The SCO is a major trans-regional multilateral organization with 8 members including China and Russia. SCO countries are home to 41% of the global population and account for 23% of global GDP, it said.
The SCO provides an important platform for Pakistan to further strengthen its deep-rooted and historic ties with the member states and promote socio-economic cooperation for mutual benefit across diverse areas.
According to MoFA, the visit of the SCO secretary general will provide an opportunity for Pakistan to engage with the SCO secretariat while highlighting its perspective and priorities for making SCO mechanisms more effective in advancing shared regional security and economic goals.
On Friday, Ming told media “I plan to visit Pakistan and India before going to Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, for foreign ministers meeting by end of this month, the secretary general told media after a visit of five member-states of the SCO.”
He said the relevant arrangements for his meetings with the Pakistani leadership were underway.
Ming shared the outcome of his visits to SCO member states and said that he hoped to listen to views of all members states on current international situation on how to promote regional and international peace and development and how to advance SCO development.