Building SCO Dreams for Harmony and Prosperity: 2022 "SCO Summer" Youth Gala Week Launched
On July 28, the 2022 "SCO Summer" Youth Gala Week was kicked off in Jiaozhou, Qingdao, and it's a summer event aimed at youth integration and multicultural exchanges.
Grigory Logvinov, SCO Deputy Secretary-General, Farhod Arziyev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to China, Feng Litao, Deputy Director of the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Huang Hongguang, Deputy Secretary-General of Shandong Provincial People's Government, and Zhang Xinzhu, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Qingdao Committee and Director of the Administrative Committee of SCODA, attended the launching ceremony and delivered speeches. Majdov Murozhong Abdurayevich, Vice Minister of Culture of Uzbekistan, Rotating Presidency of SCO, delivered a video speech. Duan Zhouwu, Director of the Network of International Culturalink Entities, Zhao Yan, Vice Mayor of Qingdao, Li Gang, Executive Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of SCODA, and Guligge Umariyan, Charge d'affaires ad Interim of the Embassy of Tajikistan in China, attended the event. High-level performers from home and abroad, youth representatives from SCO countries, business representatives, media and think tank representatives and other people from all walks of life attended the event. Wang Lei, Head of Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Director of Shandong Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration, presided over the ceremony.
Feng Litao said in his speech that "We stand ready to work with other SCO member states to focus on, train and serve the young people, and build a broader platform for people-to-people exchanges and cooperation among SCO young people. And we would like to join hands to build an even closer SCO cultural community."
In his speech, Huang Hongguang said that "We will take this event as an opportunity to deepen international youth exchanges and cooperation with the SCODA as a link, strive to build an innovative brand of SCO youth cultural exchanges, and make strenuous efforts to contribute more Shandong strength to the development of the SCO."
Zhang Xinzhu said that SCODA is dedicated to deepening mutual learning among civilizations and closer people-to-people ties, actively expanding the cooperation with SCO countries in education, culture, tourism, law and skill training, etc. It has made all-out efforts to promote the construction of the China-SCO Institute of Economy and Trade, successfully hosted over 50 activities including SCO Chinese Calligraphy Competition, and the Chinese and Russian Competition, and will shoulder the responsibilities and make due contributions in expanding international "circle of friends".
Grigory Logvinov said in his speech that teaching young people the characteristics and featured knowledge of SCO countries, imparting the communication skills, and equipping them with the ability to cooperate on the basis of consensus and mutual respect serve as the foundation for interaction among the SCO member states.
Farhod Arziyev said that the 2022 "SCO Summer" Youth Gala Week will help deepen the solidarity and cooperation, friendship, exchanges, and communication among the youth groups of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and build a platform for cultural and tourist exchanges and cooperation among SCO member states.
Majdov Murozhong said in his video speech that "We will deepen and expand the cooperation with SCO countries, build a common cultural space and achieve common goals."
The event themed "Building SCO Dreams for Harmony and Prosperity" was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, SCO Secretariat and Shandong Provincial People's Government, and organized by the Network of International Culturalink Entities, Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Qingdao Municipal People's Government. It was co-organized by the Administrative Committee of China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area, Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Qingdao Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and Jiaozhou People's Government.
The 2022 "SCO Summer" will further enhance the friendship among SCO countries, strengthen contacts and exchanges among young people, showcase the vitality and talent of young people in SCO countries in an all-round way, and build a new platform for cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation among SCO countries.
One of the highlights was that the List of World Heritage in SCO Family was officially published during the launching ceremony. The preface of the book was written by Zhang Ming, SCO Secretary-General, and Li Qun, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism and Director General of the National Cultural Heritage Administration. It includes pictures of 224 world heritage sites in 18 countries, namely eight SCO member states, four observer states and six dialogue partners. Each heritage is matched with one picture, and described in Chinese, Russian and English.
During the launching ceremony, China-SCO Cultural Cooperation Projects Information Resources Base was officially launched and the signing ceremony was organized. At present, the website has been completed and officially launched, with sections for performing arts organizations of SCO countries, performing arts repertoire, performers, qualification inquiry, news and information, excellent works, and exchanges and cooperation.
During the event, the youth representatives jointly released the Initiative of SCO Countries Young Makers' Camp, and proposed that young people from SCO countries join the Makers' Camp program, strengthen cultural exchanges among young people within the SCO framework, stimulate the enthusiasm of young people in innovation and entrepreneurship, and contribute young people's strength to the common development of SCO countries.
On the same day, the "My Homeland" - SCO Youth International Photography Exhibition opened. Thanks to the support of the Silk Road Photographic Organization International Alliance and China Artistic Photography Society, after three months of collecting, a total of 1,800 works by more than 200 young photographers and renowned photographers from eight SCO member states, four observer states and nine dialogue partners have been received. Under the four themes of "Our Homeland", "Our Faces", "Our Life" and "Our Growth", the exhibition presents the social development, lives, customs and natural landscapes of the relevant SCO countries and ethnic groups, captured vividly by photographers of various countries from different perspectives.
On 29th, SCO Countries Youth Performance and Art Forum will also be held. The theme of the forum is "Building a Road of Innovation and a Bridge of Cooperation". The forum has invited 20 heavyweight guests from the performance sector of world-renowned troupes to attend.
During the Gala Week, a series of exciting activities will be held, including the 2022 "SCO Summer" Carnival, the Round-the-Lake Race and the First "SCO Summer" Youth OP Sailing Tournament, building a public platform for international exchanges and cooperation in areas including culture and tourism .