Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001. The fundamental statutory document which outlines the organisation's goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities is Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter, which entered into force on 19 September 2003. The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO. The SCO's main goals are as follows: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.