DUSHANBE, December 9, 2013, Asia-Plus -- Dushanbe Mayor Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloyev has endorsed the plan of actions to make preparations for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that is scheduled to take place in the Tajik capital from September 12-13, 2014.

“The plan, in particular, includes planting trees and shrubs along the main streets and completion of reconstruction of the Poytakht Hotel,” Shavkat Saidov, a spokesman for the Dushanbe mayor’s office, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, and currently has six full members -- China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India are four observer states, and SCO’s dialogue partners include Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

“The mayor’s office will also provide support for completion of construction of Sheraton Hotel in Dushanbe,” the spokesman added.

We will recall that Sheraton Dushanbe Hotel is expected to open in September this year.  Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc signed an agreement with CJSC CHL International last year, to open a Sheraton Hotel in the Tajik capital.  The Sheraton Dushanbe Hotel marks the entry of Starwood to Tajikistan.  The opening of this hotel is part of the company’s global strategic expansion plan that includes adding more than 60 new hotels to the Sheraton portfolio over the next three years.