over 20 years SCO failed to implement a single major project – Kommersant

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev said that over the 20 years of the existence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) it has not been possible to implement a single major economic project under the auspices of the organization. According to him, this happened due to the lack of mechanisms for financial support of project activities. To solve the problem, Mr. Tokayev called for the creation of an investment fund within the framework of the SCO.

“It should be recognized that for more than 20 years it has not been possible to implement a single major economic project under the auspices of the SCO. An obvious factor is the lack of mechanisms for financial support of project activities. Therefore, I propose to instruct the Council of Heads of Government to consider the possibility of creating a joint investment fund and make proposals on this important project,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at an online meeting of the heads of the SCO countries (quoted by TASS),

Mr. Tokayev added that the Astana International Financial Center could become a platform for stimulating direct and portfolio investment in SCO regional projects. He also proposed to create a base of economic preferences through the joint efforts of the SCO countries to increase the investment attractiveness of the organization.

23rd Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO passes in New Delhi in a virtual format. Following the meeting, Iran will be admitted to the SCO. Also, the member states of the organization during the summit will formalize a memorandum of intent for Belarus to join the organization. Currently, the SCO includes eight countries: Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

More about the summit – in the material “Kommersant” “SCO leads teleconferences”.

Olesya Pavlenko