On September 23, 2004, after the Third Meeting of Prime Ministers of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the prime ministers held a joint press conference, where they all pointed out that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has entered into a new phase of all-round development and cooperation.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council said that for over 3 years since its establishment, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been holding high the banner of peace, development and cooperation, and has achieved significant results in security cooperation and economic and trade cooperation. Economic cooperation is one of the cooperative priorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Last year the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization formulated the outline on economic and trade cooperation. And they worked out a plan on economic and trade cooperation this year. The plan involves 11 fields and 127 items, highlighting cooperation in the following 4 fields: transportation, communications, energy and agriculture. We will put these items into effect step by step in the principle of equality, mutual benefit and gradual advance. Wen Jiabao emphasized that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been an open organization since the first day of its establishment, therefore the opening principle should be followed in economic and trade cooperation as well.

Russian Prime Minister Fradkov said that the priorities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is security cooperation and economic and trade cooperation. In the short 3 years after its establishment, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has accomplished many very important tasks, demonstrating its strong dynamism and working efficiency. The current priority of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is economic cooperation. Russia thinks that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has enormous potentials in the cooperation on transportation, infrastructure construction and environmental protection, etc.

Prime Minister Akhmetov of Kazakhstan said that the document that the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization signed today is of breakthrough significance. Kazakhstan supports all the cooperation among the member states and emphasizes the cooperation on energy and water resources. On September 28, the oil pipeline construction project between Kazakhstan and the west of China will break ground formally, which is of great significance to promoting the energy cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Prime Minister Tanayev of Kyrgyzstan said that, the territories of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization span Europe and Asia, with a population of about 1/3 of the world's total. So its potentials for development are unfathomable.