Rustam Minnikhanov arrives in Kazakhstan to take part in opening ceremony of EXPO-2017

On June 9, Tatarstan President arrived on a working visit in Kazakhstan as part of the Russian official delegation led by Russian President Vladimir Putin to take part in the opening ceremony of the International Specialized Exhibition EXPO-2017 in Astana.

Upon his arrival in the capital of Kazakhstan, Minnikhanov went to see the exposition of EXPO-2017. It is planned that today heads of delegations of members states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will visit the exhibition centre and will participate in the EXPO-2017 official opening ceremony.

Tatarstan President is also scheduled to have a meeting with Board Chairman of Astana Expo-2017 National Company Akhmetzhan Yessimov, at which issues of exhibition activity will be discussed.

These days Astana is hosting a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Heads of State. This international organization was founded in 2001 by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The summit participants examined the decision to accord India and Pakistan the status of full-fledged SCO member states.

The SCO member states also discussed concrete steps towards further improvement of the organization's activity, development of cooperation in priority areas, including ensuring global security and countering terrorism, deepening trade and economic cooperation and promoting humanitarian ties. The leaders of the SCO member states also exchanged their views on current situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East.