The second SCO Youth camp was held in Shanghai and Beijing from 21st to 29th August 2017, where more than 160 participants of SCO member and observers participated in it.
Afghanistan, which is one of the observers in SCO, also took part in it. One of the researchers of the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies (CSRS) Ahmad Bilal Khalil was part of the Afghan delegation.
Compared to other regional organizations, the SCO region is less connected in youth and cultural aspects; that is why while speaking in the Ufa city of Russia, the Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated on starting the youth camps under the SCO. At that time Beijing also took the responsibility of convening the first five camps.
The first SCO youth camp was held in the Xinjiang and Chinese Magnolia and the second was organized in Shanghai and Beijing.
The participant of the meeting and the researcher of CSRS Ahmad Bilal Khalil believes that the meeting had three fundamental objectives; first, reconnecting SCO region culturally. Second, gathering the youth of SCO countries in a network. Third, giving a cultural aspect to the SCO, which until now has largely been a security and economic bloc because culture plays a significant role when it comes to economic integration.
The issue of economic cooperation between the countries, the expansion and implementation of the Silk Road and cultural relations were discussed in this meeting.
This meeting had three aspects; first, academic meetings and conferences. Second, tourism, Sinology, and the expansion of relations between the SCO youth. Third, the expansion of relations between the traders and entrepreneurs.
In the first part, two lectures regarding the “One belt, one road” was delivered. Then a cultural forum and a roundtable of young entrepreneurs were organized. In the second aspect, meetings between the delegations of the member countries and visiting the Chinese historical Great Wall was included. In the third aspect, a meeting was held between the entrepreneurs of SCO, and at the end, a statement was also released. The statement included recommendations regarding increasing the capacity of young entrepreneurs and the expansion of relations between the youth of SCO.
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