Laos will officially become a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Today, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will hold a signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding granting the Lao People's Democratic Republic the status of dialogue partner in Beijing. The Deputy Foreign Minister of Laos and the Secretary-General of the SCO will attend the event. At the Tianjin Summit held last year, the heads of state of member countries unanimously agreed to accept Laos as a dialogue partner. As of now, the SCO has 10 formal member countries, 2 observer countries, and 15 dialogue partners including Laos.