SME Times News Bureau | 28 Oct, 2020
In the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers, India
and other member countries emphasized on enhancing MSME cooperation.
Both Side stressed on number of
areas of cooperation among MSMEs, including exchange of information,
organisation of events and collaboration on research and capacity building.
India on Wednesday hosted the 19th
Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) Ministers responsible for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade
Activities.
In his opening remarks, Minister of Commerce and
Industry Piyush Goyal said that the current crisis due to Covid-19 is a clarion
call to the SCO countries to leverage the economic strength and explore
partnerships that enhance trade and investment in the region.
He said that cooperation should be continued to
enhance intra-SCO trade and investment which would be critical in ensuring the
speedy recovery from the aftermath of the pandemic.
Goyal said that every nation’s world view is
shaped by its civilization and philosophical tradition. India’s ancient
wisdom sees the world as one family - Vasudeva Kutumbakam, he
aadded.
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Hardeep
Singh Puri also spoke on the occasion.
The virtual meeting was attended by the Secretary
General of SCO and Ministers from, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan,
Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
In the meeting four documents were adopted,
including statement on the response to Covid-19. It reinforces the need
for greater cooperation for access to medicines and facilitation of trade and on
the Multilateral Trading System of Ministers of SCO Countries who are WTO
Members. This statement highlights the importance of the rules based
multilateral negotiations.
A Statement on SCO Cooperation on
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) was also adopted.
It relates to cooperation of
intellectual property and include sharing information/experience on legislation
and enforcement, cooperation in international organisations and other areas.
An Action Plan for Implementation of MOU
to stimulate cooperation within the framework of SCO in the field of MSMEs was
also adopted.