Meeting of the expert group on preparation of the 4th meeting of heads of ministries and departments of the SCO member states

On April 9, the second meeting of the expert group for preparation of the 4th meeting of heads of ministries and departments of the SCO member states responsible for development of information and communication technologies was held in Hangzhou (China).

The meeting was chaired by China. The meeting was attended by representatives of the SCO Secretariat and SCO member states: Belarus, Russia, India, Pakistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The Republic of Belarus was represented at the meeting by Deputy Head of International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus Vitali Prasvirau and First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the People's Republic of China Sergey Teplyakov.

The meeting was opened by Xu Chaofeng, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. Thereafter the meeting was chaired by Zhang Xiaolei, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China.

The participants agreed on draft documents of the 4th meeting of heads of ministries and departments of the SCO member states responsible for development of information and communication technologies. The draft Action Plan of the SCO Member States in the field of digital transformation was considered. The proposals of the Belarusian side were taken into account during the discussion.

The issue of holding the China-SCO Digital Technology Cooperation and Development Forum and information on the China-SCO Big Data Cooperation Center, a presentation by the Mayor of Karamay, Han Min, were also discussed.

In conclusion, negotiations were held between the Belarusian delegation and the Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Xiaolei.

The parties discussed the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies between the Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, signed on August 22, 2024 in the presence of Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko and Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang.

The main approaches to the practical implementation of the Memorandum were outlined, and other relevant areas of cooperation were discussed.