Former Kyrgyz PM highlights Central Asia's global role ahead of 2024 SCO summit

Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev emphasized Central Asia's excellent potential to drive high-quality global development due to the region's well-educated populace.

Otorbaev made the comments in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing ahead of the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) set for Wednesday and Thursday in Astana, Kazakhstan.

"In Central Asia, we believe that we will be competitive when we will be joining the drive of humanity to high-quality development. In that respect, we think that because we are a post-Soviet state, we have a high level of education. So, our talents should work together with talents all around the world, including our neighbors. We are proud of China's success in modernization and high-quality development. We have our talents and should join the overall drive of humanity to invent new things and to bring our small world to the more harmonious organization of our societies," said Otorbaev.

Featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party, the SCO was established in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In recent years, the SCO has incorporated new members who recognize the Shanghai Spirit, which is defined by mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development. India and Pakistan were admitted as full members in June 2017 and Iran in July 2023.

Now, with nine member states, three observer states and 14 dialogue partners, the SCO stands as the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographical scale and population.

Former Kyrgyz PM highlights Central Asia's global role ahead of 2024 SCO summit

The prices of more than 400 kinds of food in Japan have risen so far in July, with the prices of various imported fruits hitting new highs due to depreciation of the Japanese yen.

So far in July, the prices of 411 food items climbed in the country, with the markups of imported red wine, whiskey and other goods increasing significantly, some of which even going up by as much as 50 percent.

The rise in the prices of cocoa beans and coffee beans has driven up related food and beverage prices.

At the same time, the prices of fruits imported from Southeast Asia have also risen rapidly, with the wholesale price of bananas hitting a five-year high and that of pineapples reaching an all-time high.

Since the beginning of 2024, the number of food products whose prices have been or are planned to be raised has exceeded 10,000, the third consecutive year to pass this number.

According to statistics released by the relevant survey institutions, since 2021, aquatic products, egg products and snacks have seen the largest price increases in Japan, with an overall uptick of more than 20 percent.

Japan's consumer price index, or the core CPI, went up 2.8 percent in the fiscal year 2023 ending by March 2024, with the markup of food excluding fresh food hitting a 48-year high.

The Japanese yen continued to drop further to a 38-year low against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, Japanese media Nikkei reported.

The U.S. dollar rose to as high as 161.83 yen in New York, marking the Japanese currency's weakest level since December 1986.

Prices of more than 400 food items tick up in Japan in July