SCO observer status to give Afghanistan impetus for development.

ASTANA (Itar-Tass) - Tajikistan supports the application of
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai for the status of observer at the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Tajikistan's President Emomali
Rakhmon said at the Organization's jubilee summit here on Wednesday. "We
have no doubt that a positive decision on the matter would be an important
step toward Afghanistan's more active participation in the processes of
multilateral cooperation and integration in the region," he said.
He stressed that SCO countries "should continue giving to Afghanistan'
s government the assistance it needs to consolidate the successes
achieved."
Rakhmon believes one contact group SCO-Afghanistan is obviously not
enough to fulfill the tasks set in this direction. "We should draw on
additional political, economic and administrative resources to increase
our contribution to the cause of Afghanistan's renaissance," he said.
Tajikistan's president holds that assisting Afghanistan's social and
economic renaissance by increased participation in the projects for the
reconstruction of the country's economy is one of the directions "in which
the Organization can use its potential." "Assistance to Afghanistan is one
of the important and topical tasks of the Organization in the period
ahead," he stressed.