The SCO and Prospects for the Development of Broad Eurasian Partnership

The SCO and Prospects for the Development of Broad Eurasian Partnership

1 June, 16:45–18:00

Russia views developing collaboration within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as one of its foreign policy priorities. The Republic of Kazakhstan is chairing the SCO Heads of State Council in 2016–2017, while Russia chairs the Heads of Government Council.
At the SCO summit in Astana on June 8–9 this year, India and Pakistan will become full members of the organization. One of the challenges raised by this development will be to ensure that India and Pakistan can be integrated comfortably within the SCO’s collaborative framework.
A dominant trend at the present stage in the development of the global economy is the active promotion of regional integration processes. Russia has presented proposals for forming a broad Eurasian partnership, which would include the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the SCO, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). One approach to realizing these proposals will be to join together the building of the EAEU with China’s Silk Road Economic Belt project which, together with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is part of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ concept. The effective participation of SCO member states in collaborative efforts in this area will doubtless have a positive effect on the resolution of national economic development issues.

















Broadcast

Key moments

The SCO will virtually turn into a transcontinental organization with a realm of responsibility spanning from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean and from the once small Chinese town of Lianyungang in the East to Russian Kaliningrad in the West.
Rashid Alimov
Secretary General, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Where countries maintain multilateral relations and hold regular meetings, there will be more peace in the region: today, you can’t talk about trade without security – the topic of security is critical. The SCO will soon embrace 45% of the global population.
Mahmoud Vaezi
Minister of Communication and Information Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran
It may well happen that, in the coming years or decades, the presence of such an organization uniting the three majors – China, India and Russia – and several regional balancing players like Pakistan and Kazakhstan will play a decisive role in preventing military conflicts.
Evgeny Vinokurov
Director, Centre for Integration Studies, Eurasian Development Bank (EDB)
It is common knowledge that there are new trends emerging in the modern world that might not be all that positive in terms of trade relations. While, for many years, we’ve been talking about the benefits of market liberalization and globalization that bring development to a new quality level and create new growth points, now we are hearing, more and more, ideas in favour of securing our own economy and calling for protectionism, which is obviously a certain challenge for global trends. Yet, at the same time, this is a chance for regional integration – an opportunity to develop all the benefits that such processes pose.
Alexey Gruzdev
Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation
Our SCO agreements are not a mere tribute to fashion; they are the implementation of an actual export potential we have identified in specific industries together with each of our partners.
Veronika Nikishina
Member of the Board, Minister in Charge of Trade, Eurasian Economic Commission
SCO development and engagement in activities within the framework of this organization is a key priority for the Russian Federation.
Bakhtiyer Khakimov
Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Affairs
If new local production is established and new transport and logistics hubs are set up along the transport corridors, which number six at the moment, this will enable us to expand the potential of the SCO internal market and the export potential.
Alexey Gruzdev
Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation