DUSHANBE, June 9, Asia-Plus --More than 40 artistes from Tajikistan will take part in an arts festival of member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) dedicated to the 5 ^th anniversary of the establishment of the Organization that will be held in Shanghai from June 15-18.

According to information from the Ministry of Culture, ensembles “Gulrez” and “Zebo” and known singers such as Surayo Qosimova, Davlatmand Kholov, Saidqul Bilolov, Parda Qosim and others will represent Tajikistan in this festival.    

It is already the second arts festival of the SCO member nations.  The first festival was held in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on the sidelines of the SCO summit. 

A summit of SCO leaders will be held in Shanghai on June 15. 

The SCO is the regional grouping that was set up in 2001 by Russia, China and four Central Asian states to addresses a range of issues and, in particular, seeks to accomplish political, counter-terrorism and economic objectives.  The SCO members are China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.  India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan are observers.