The main goal of the meeting of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries in Almaty is to enhance
sports and tourism potential. At Kazakhstan's initiative, a Joint Action Plan
in the field of tourism for 2024-2025 has been developed and adopted,
containing around 20 jointly formed activities. The document encompasses a wide
range of measures aimed at improving infrastructure, stimulating tourist
demand, enhancing visitor services, and promoting tourism routes across the
region. Each country makes its contribution by offering unique tourism
opportunities and resources.
“The International University of
Tourism and Hospitality, located in the spiritual tourism capital of the Turkic
world, in the city of Turkistan, operates under the Kazakh Ministry of Tourism
and Sports. In the upcoming academic year, we are ready to prioritize the
admission of two representatives from each country. I believe that our
initiative will contribute to strengthening international cooperation. Within
the SCO framework, the project Cultural and Tourism Capital of the SCO is being
successfully implemented. Almaty is ready to pass on this status to the next
city. On our part, we support China’s Qingdao as the candidate city to obtain
the status of the SCO Cultural and Tourism Capital,” ¤Kazakh Minister of
Tourism and Sports Yermek Marzhikpayev said.
According to Nikita Kondratiev,
Director of the Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation and Special
Projects of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, this step strengthens
cooperation between the countries and expands cultural exchange.
“The meeting was very dynamic
and effective, resulting in the adoption of a joint work plan for the next two
years, including Russian proposals covering four key areas. The first area
involves promoting joint tourist products, with a focus on training tourism
industry personnel, ensuring tourist safety, and aligning standards. The last
aspect is particularly significant for us because Russia is ready to share its
best practices and experiences in tourism industry standardization. Next year,
we plan to develop a separate initiative aimed at aligning standardization and
regulation within the SCO framework. Another key point, actively discussed at
the ministerial meeting and emphasized by all delegation heads, is the visa
regime that should be liberalized by SCO countries. Our country is actively
working in this direction and has established visa-free agreements with almost
all SCO states. Additionally, group visa-free trips are developing intensively,
with arrangements in place with China and Iran since August 1, 2023. We hope
that all the documents we adopt will also create additional conditions for the
development of investment cooperation in the field of tourism,” Kondratiev
said.
Kazakhstan has established a
visa-free regime with nearly all SCO member states. Statistically, 62 percent
of foreign tourists to Kazakhstan are citizens of SCO countries. During the
meeting, Minister of Tourism and Sports Yermek Marzhikpayev held bilateral
talks with the heads of relevant ministries of China, Iran, and Russia. With
Russian Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev, he discussed cooperation between
the two countries in sports science development. Agreements were reached with
Iranian Minister of Sports Kioumars Hashemi to enhance collaboration between
Iran and Kazakhstan in sports, including the training of young athletes. Issues
of cooperation and participation in the 2025 Asian Winter Games were touched on
with China’s Sports Minister Gao Zhidan as well. Following the SCO meeting in
Almaty, a joint action plan in the
“From September 8 to 13 of this
year, Kazakhstan will host the fifth World Nomad Games. This is a major tourism
event, which will gather over 100,000 tourists in the Kazakh capital. I extend
an invitation to you to visit Astana and experience firsthand the realization
of this unique project,” Marzhikpayev added.
