It was attended by Minister of culture and sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bakhodir Akhmedov, Vice-Minister of culture and sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Galym Akhmediarov, Minister of culture of the People's Republic of China Luo Shugang, Minister of culture, information and tourism of the Kyrgyz Republic Altynbek Maksutov, First deputy minister of culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Aristarkhov, Minister of culture of the Republic of Tajikistan Shamsiddin Orumbekzoda and SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov.

The meeting was chaired by Minister of culture and sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan B.Akhmedov.

The Ministers of culture of SCO member-states discussed the carried out works on developing cooperation in the field of culture and arts for the past period and exchanged views on the implementation of the Agreement between the governments of SCO member-states on cooperation in culture (Bishkek, 16 August 2007) and the agreements, reached within the past meetings of Ministers of culture of the Member-states of the organization.

The sides expressed their mutual desire to further develop cultural ties within the SCO framework, strengthen mutual understanding and respect, actively promote centuries-old national traditions and customs of the peoples of the SCO member-states.

Participants called for further improvement of cooperation with the SCO observer-states and dialogue partners in the field of culture and arts both on a bilateral and on a multilateral basis.

A special attention will be paid to the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the study and preservation of the cultural heritage of the SCO region, including the Silk Road.

The sides confirmed their readiness to enhance cooperation in areas such as the study and preservation of the cultural heritage of the SCO region, creation of databases and registries of monuments of architecture, training of specialists in the field of civilization and cultural heritage and restoration of works of art, preventing illegal import and export of cultural property, and in other areas of mutual interest.

The meeting noted that the joint activities in the field of culture and arts promote understanding between peoples, preservation of cultural diversity and dissemination of knowledge about the culture of the peoples of the world. In this context, jubilee tenth "Sharq taronalari" international festival, held in Uzbekistan in 2015, was highly praised, which serves to preserve and develop traditions of music and song art of the peoples of the world, uniting nations and the peoples towards the noble goals through art.

It was also stressed that successful organization of events in the SCO territories, such as the "Silk Road" international festival of arts in the Peoples Republic of China, the "Art-Ordo" international theater festival in the Kyrgyz Republic, the “Berdemlek-Commonwealth" festival of arts in the Russian Federation and the "Chodari khayol" international festival of puppet theaters in the Republic of Tajikistan, expand opportunities for cultural exchange among peoples and contribute to the strengthening of relations of friendship and good neighborliness. Such events are an exceptional opportunity to unite all the creative teams of the SCO countries on one platform and demonstrate the achievements that reflect the unique national character of each country.

The parties expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of culture and sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the hospitality and excellent organization of the meeting of culture ministers of the SCO member-states.