BRICS and SCO summits filled with important decisions

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is pleased with the results of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summits held in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia’s constituent region in south-western Urals.

"We believe that the BRICS and SCO summits were not only filled with substantive talks and important decisions. They were also well-organized," the Russian president told the final news conference on Friday. Putin thanked the leadership and the people of Ufa and Bashkortostan for hospitality and the event’s good organization.

The Russian president said that the BRICS and SCO summits had become a serious step in developing multi-dimensional cooperation among states represented in Ufa. He noted that the summits had assembled the leaders of 15 countries from various continents. "The strength and the enormous potential of BRICS and SCO are certainly hidden in this diversity and the combination of traditions," Putin said.

He also recalled that the leaders of countries members of the Eurasian Economic Union /EEU/ also gathered in Ufa. Putin has held plenty of bilateral meetings /he will meet the presidents of Afghanistan and the prime minister of Pakistan after the briefing/ and has taken part in a trilateral meeting between Russia, Mongolia and China.

President Putin enumerated the main decisions adopted at the two summits. He said the documents approved by the BRICS summit contained concrete agreements to develop and strengthen the group’s international status. "It marked the beginning of operation of BRICS financial institutions - the New Development Bank and the Pool of Foreign Exchange Reserves - with an aggregate capital of 200 billion US dollars," the Russian president said.

The SCO summit decided to enlarge the organization for the first time in 15 years, Putin said adding the summit had also adopted the SCO’s development strategy until 2025 and the SCO Ufa Declaration.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent regional association founded in Shanghai, China, on June 15, 2001. Its priority tasks include joint counteraction to terrorism and extremism; cooperation in education as well as in the energy, oil and gas, transport, communication and other spheres. At present, the SCO comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have an observer status while Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are partners for dialogue.

The BRICS group unites five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It was founded in June 2006. Russia took over the BRICS presidency on April 1, 2015. One of its main goals will be to implement agreements on creation of BRICS financial institutions such as the New Development Bank and the Pool of Currency Reserves. The BRICS states cover 26% of the territory of Earth. The group’s total population accounts for 42% of global population. In 2013, the BRICS share in global trade stood at 16.1%.