India today hosted the 19th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers of Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade.
 
In his opening remarks, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said  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 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. 
 
In the meeting four documents were adopted.
 
They include statement on the response to Covid-19 which reinforces the need for greater cooperation for access to medicines and facilitation of trade and statement on the Multilateral Trading System of Ministers of SCO Countries who are WTO Members. 
 
This statement highlights the importance of the rule-based multilateral negotiations.

Besides, statement on SCO Cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) was also adopted which relates to cooperation of intellectual property and include sharing information and experience on legislation and enforcement, cooperation in international organisations and other areas.
 
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.