President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov received Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov on Thursday, the Kyrgyz president’s press service reported.

The President congratulated Norov on his appointment as SCO Secretary General and wished him success in his responsible activities, the press service of the President’s Office reported.

The President noted that over the 18 years of activity, the Organization has taken a worthy place among authoritative international organizations and has become an important factor in ensuring security and sustainable development of interstate relations.

He stressed that the Kyrgyz side is actively working within the chairmanship in the SCO, negotiations have been held, and issues have been discussed with many relevant institutions.

“Before the Summit of the SCO member states, which will be held in Bishkek in June 2019, we will hold all the relevant events and prepare to receive distinguished guests. Today, final documents are being worked out, which are planned to be signed during the meeting of the heads of the SCO member states. I am confident that by joint efforts we will be able to qualitatively fill the substantive part of the meeting and achieve great success for the sake of the prosperity of the peoples of the SCO member states and will hold this event at a high level,” Jeenbekov said.

The SCO Secretary General noted the symbolism of his first visit as Secretary General being paid to Kyrgyzstan, the country that is chairing the SCO this year.

“I have identified for myself the holding of the SCO Summit at the highest level, as well as related activities within its framework as the main priority since taking office. We have had fruitful meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of the Security Council of the Kyrgyz Republic, the head of the youth council and the business council of the SCO. At these meetings, we discussed in detail all the issues that need to be resolved before the Summit. First of all, it is the package of documents that need to be prepared,” Norov said.

Jeenbekov and Norov, along with cooperation in politics, security, cultural and humanitarian ties, discussed the possibility of enhancing the economic potential in the framework of the SCO.