THE TIES THAT BIND: Finance ministers and central bank governors of SCO member countries hold talks in Almaty, capital of Kazakhstan, on December 9, 2009 (XINHUA)

In January, Muratbek Sansyzbayevich Imanaliev of Kyrgyzstan became the third Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional organization formally established in 2001 grouping China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Imanaliev held his first press briefing at the Beijing News Center of Russia's RIA Novosti News Agency on February 3. Over the course of his upcoming three-year term, Imanaliev pledged an emphasis on regional security, the strengthening of economic cooperation between member nations and continual enhancement of the SCO's international influence.

The main points from the press conference follow:

What are your objectives and main tasks during your term of office and how do you plan to achieve them?

The overall objective of the SCO has been presented in our political documents, but I want to emphasize what was discussed at the Yekaterinburg summit and culminated in the ratification of the Yekaterinburg Declaration last year. In this, the leaders of the member countries clarified the major tasks of the SCO. Over the next three years, I will do my best to implement the goals outlined within this consensus.

As the SCO secretary general, the most urgent task will be to strengthen the solidarity within the organization and adjust the personnel team. This, in turn, will lay a sound foundation for future work. Indeed, every international organization has its own speed and process of development. In the next phase, we will keep improving the organization and adding new vitality.

My first task lies in security—more specifically, a resolution to address the hostilities and danger that proliferate in Afghanistan.

My second task will be to strengthen the economic cooperation within the SCO itself. What's more, I will be committed to developing the SCO's cooperation with other international organizations. Indeed, an urgent priority is to continue to consolidate contacts and cooperation with the UN.

Another task will be to strengthen the functions of the SCO Secretariat in Beijing. My predecessor, Bolat Nurgaliev, made great progress in improving the internal mechanisms of the SCO. I will continue to complement these efforts.

What measures will the SCO take to strengthen economic cooperation? Also, terrorist threats still exist in the region, as evidenced by the riots in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last July. How will the SCO deal with terrorism more effectively?

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has recently put forward an initiative calling for all SCO member countries to work together to emerge from the shadows of the global financial crisis. Indeed, it is an initiative enthusiastically supported by all member countries.

Intensification of economic and financial interaction within the framework of the SCO is, of course, part of this initiative. Meanwhile, the organization will also strengthen coordination with other international organizations.

In this regard, the SCO Secretariat will further assist member countries in terms of developing their national economies while promoting the implementation of joint projects in the fields of transportation, communications, and trade, among others.

As for the unrest in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, we issued a statement immediately afterward in support of the Chinese Government. In order to deal with terrorist threats in the region, we need to strengthen antiterrorist cooperation, especially within the framework of the Regional Antiterrorism Structure—a permanent SCO entity based in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, which serves to promote cooperation between member states in the face of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.

Now that the Central Asian natural gas pipeline has opened and is operating smoothly, how do you view the importance of energy cooperation within the framework of the SCO?

Members have paid full attention to energy cooperation within the SCO framework. We have reached and implemented many agreements in this regard. I would like to emphasize that energy cooperation has not only pooled the talents of government authorities and companies of SCO member countries, but also attracted SCO observer countries to participate as well.