Uzbekistan favors economic relations of SCO countries
By Gunay Hasanova
Uzbekistan favors the development of trade and economic relations among member-countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Rustam Azimov.
“Uzbekistan has already taken concrete steps jointly with our partners from the People’s Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and our closest neighbors Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan regarding the development of trade-economic and investment cooperation and seeking new opportunities, as well as, mutually acceptable and beneficial solutions to these issues,” noted Azimov at a meeting of the Council of SCO Heads of Governments in Bishkek, Jahon News Agency reported.
Azimov stressed that being neighbors, and, in fact, having a complementary economy, one needs to actively shape each other’s market, promote mutual demand for manufactured goods in neighboring countries by creating the preconditions for its successful competitiveness.
At the same time, Uzbekistan is committed to broadening and deepening the ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders, with member-states and observers of the SCO at interstate and regional level, which, according to First Deputy Prime Minister, is a "major driving force for the expansion of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation.”
“The most important strategic direction for Uzbekistan is the implementation of joint projects aimed at the disclosure of a huge transport-communication and transit potential of the SCO,” he added.
He noted that Uzbekistan supports the development of economically sound transport and transit routes, effectively linking Central Asia through China and Russia to the markets of South-East and South Asia and Europe, including in the framework of the Chinese initiative to create a "Silk Road Economic Belt".
As one of the weaknesses of the SCO first Deputy Prime Minister called the lack of an effective multilateral financial mechanism to support investment activity in the framework of the SCO.
Following the meeting, SCO member countries agreed to create a development bank and a development fund of SCO at a meeting in 2012.
In turn, Azimov also stressed that Uzbekistan supports the creation of the SCO Development Bank, which is one of the most important factors in the development of investment cooperation.
An expanded format meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government was held in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek on November 3.
The meeting was attended by Kyrgyzstan’s Acting Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Kazakh Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and Uzbekistan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov.
The event saw the signing of 12 documents on cooperation, including a Joint Communiqué of the SCO heads of governments.
Moreover, the countries signed a decree on the SCO budget for 2017, a list of actions for the further development of the project activities within the SCO in 2017-2021, a decree on further work aimed at creating the SCO Development Bank and Development Fund.
They also signed a concept of scientific and technological partnerships, an action plan for the implementation of the agreement between the SCO governments on scientific and technical cooperation for 2016- 2020 and a draft road development program.
The SCO, established in 2001, is a strategically important political, economic and military organization that has a geographic sweep stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf.
The SCO members now are China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus are the SCO observer countries, while Turkey, Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners.
The SCO is primarily centered on its member nations’ security-related concerns, often describing the main threats it confronts as being terrorism, separatism, and extremism.
Russia will chair the SCO Heads of Government Council in 2017.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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