Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov outlined key areas for strengthening cooperation between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states during an Oct. 16 SCO Heads of Government Council meeting in Islamabad.
According to the Prime Minister’s press service, the meeting participants discussed the implementation of the agreements reached at the SCO summit in Astana in July, as well as measures to deepen cooperation in the trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, with Belarus now a full member of the SCO.
Kazakhstan’s trade turnover with the SCO countries increased by 6% last year and totaled $66.7 billion. In general, the share of the SCO states in global gross domestic product (GDP) is 30%, and intra-organization trade exceeded a quarter of the total volume.
Bektenov emphasized that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the leaders of the SCO member states laid the strategic foundation for the development of multifaceted cooperation between the member states. In this regard, new growth points are required to secure long-term trade dynamics in the face of a global economic slowdown.
Bektenov noted the need to develop digitalization and online trade, modernize existing railways and roads as part of the creation of a partner port and logistics network, and mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy and investment sectors. He focused on the implementation of a set of measures in climate change, effective waste management, as well as strengthening contacts between educational and healthcare institutions. Close cooperation in these areas will create favorable conditions for the sustainable development and prosperity of the SCO ten member states.
Following the meeting, eight documents were signed, including the decision on the Concept of Development of the New Economic Dialogue among SCO member states.