Second Sochi International Eurasian Integration Forum
“Prospects for the development and strengthening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization”
In the difficult geopolitical situation that is now taking shape on the Eurasian continent, it becomes extremely necessary to have a thorough and comprehensive analysis by the politicians and the expert community of the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the prospects for its development. To study the existing opportunities and search for solutions to the problems facing the SCO, as well as to exchange opinions between experts and politicians of the “SCO family” countries, the Second Sochi International Eurasian Integration Forum “Prospects for the Development and Strengthening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” will be held in Sochi on April 17-18, 2018 .
Let me remind you that the initiator of the Sochi international forum in 2016 was the Institute of CIS countries, which has a rich experience in organizing scientific and scientific-practical events dedicated to the problems of Eurasian integration. Since the foundation of the Institute, its main tasks are scientific-analytical and socio-political support for the foreign policy activities of the Russian Federation, the development of models of economic, political, military and cultural integration in the post-Soviet space and “Greater Eurasia” as a whole.
The initiative of the Institute of CIS countries was supported by the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Administration of the Krasnodar Region and the city of Sochi, as well as the international expert community. As a result of the First Sochi International Forum (2016), the Russian and foreign participants of the Forum in the Final Document proposed to make it permanent and to hold at least once every two years.
Taking into account this wish, the Institute of CIS countries created a special website (http://civilshos.ru), which allowed strengthening working contacts and interaction at the expert level with Russian and foreign participants of the First Sochi International Forum and ensure regular exchange of views on the problems of the SCO.
The Second Sochi International Forum was held thanks to the support of the Presidential Grants Fund and PJSC Gazprom, as well as the assistance of the Administration of Krasnodar Region and the Administration of Sochi.
About 200 Russian and over 40 foreign representatives from 16 countries will take part in the Forum. They will speak at plenary and section sessions.
Based on the results of the Second Sochi International Eurasian Integration Forum of, the Working Group “SCO Expert Site” will be established – as a permanent structure of the representatives of the member countries for a comprehensive study of the SCO problems, as well as discussion of the most relevant areas for the development of the Organization.
It is no accident that the venue of the First International Forum in 2016 and the Second Sochi Eurasian Integration International Forum have been chosen as the beautiful city of Sochi. If before it was famous for its bright sun, warm sea and wonderful beaches, recently it became the capital of the Kinotavr film festival and its venue for major international and all-Russian competitions and festivals in its rapid development. And after the Winter Olympic Games (2014), Sochi is one of the world’s sports centers. Recently, Sochi has become increasingly a place for discussion of the most complicated international problems.
I hope, dear participants, that you will appreciate not only the level of organization of our international Forum as a scientific event, but also the hospitality of the Sochi residents, ready to share with you the warmth of our sun, the sea and their hearts!
K. Zatulin
Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Sochi International Forum,
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs,
Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots,
Head of the Institute of CIS Countries
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International Forum
“On the second track. The role of civil society and public diplomacy in the further development and expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization”
The needs of progress and sustainable development, on the one hand, large and small crises of the modern world, on the other hand, put forward the need to seek and support a variety of models of international cooperation. Serious hopes of civil society in Russia and a number of other states of Eurasia are vested in the dynamically developing and expanding Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Taking into account the interest of the scientific, public and business communities of Russia to discuss the prospects of the SCO, the director of the Institute of CIS countries Konstantin Zatulin made an initiative to hold the relevant International Forum.
As a result, on April 19-20, 2016 in Sochi (the Radisson Lazurnaya Hotel), the International Forum “On the second track. The role of civil society and public diplomacy in the further development and expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization” took place. This Forum was held with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Administration of the Krasnodar Territory, the Administration of the City of Sochi, Gazprom, Rostech, PJSC Aeroflot-Russian Airlines.
It was attended by: Adviser to the President of Russia on issues of regional economic integration, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Glazyev; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Igor Morgulov; senator, member of the Committees on Defense, Military Industry, Human Rights and Federal Education Sekhar Kamran (Pakistan); Special Representative of the President of Mongolia for Cooperation with Russia, Luvsandandaryn Khangai (Mongolia); director of the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Yongquan Li (China); Executive Secretary of the SCO Business Council Sergey Kanavsky; Chairman of the Pakistan-Russia Business Council Muhammad Farug Afzal (Pakistan); performing Director of the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Luzyanin; performing Head of the Agency for Political Analysis and Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Ambassador Salman Al-Farisi (Indonesia); Dean of the Higher School of Television of Lomonosov Moscow State University Vitaly Tretyakov; Head of the Center for East Asian Studies, Faculty of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru, Professor Srikanth Kondopali (India); Professor Andranik Migranyan, MGIMO University (U); Director of the Institute of International Relations of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the Kazakhstan-German University, formerly Director of KISI under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2005-2014) Bulat Sultanov (Kazakhstan); experts, public figures, researchers and journalists – representatives of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the observer countries of the SCO,
In total, about 300 people took part in this event, including 100 foreign participants, 38 active politicians and 64 heads of analytical centers from 26 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
As a result of the successful holding of this international conference, the Sochi Eurasian Integration Forum was created on its basis as a convenient platform for exchanging views between politicians and experts with a view to developing recommendations for strengthening the SCO during its transformation and their subsequent implementation. At the same time, the Forum Final Document expressed the desire of Russian and foreign participants to hold the Sochi Eurasian Integration Forum at least once every two years.
In the future, the Institute of CIS countries retained working contacts and interaction on an expert level with Russian and foreign participants of the Forum, in no small measure due to the fact that the site: www. civilshos.ru was created and a regular exchange of views on problems of the SCO between experts was organized on its site.
