Members are building on consensus that boosting economic ties and improving living standards are the way forward

The prime ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, proved to be a great success on Wednesday. By giving the green light to a list of multilateral projects between 2012 and 2016 and inking a memorandum on enhancing customs cooperation to protect intellectual property rights, the meeting has sent an unmistakable message to the outside world that the SCO members are making concrete efforts to further expand their cooperation.

In a joint communique that was issued at the end of the meeting, the prime ministers of the SCO member states vowed to deepen pragmatic cooperation, especially in the economic, infrastructure and energy sectors. This is in conformity with the new trend the organization has been cultivating in recent years.