New York, 18 September 2022 (TDI): Speaking at the SCO Summit 2022, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said, “the modern world has entered a dangerous period of serious aggravation of the international situation, where methods of sanctions pressure, as well as confrontational approaches to solving key global problems, have come to the fore.”
According to him, the hallmark of the modern era has become an acute deficit of mutual trust. Under these conditions, it is extremely important to strengthen the inherently unique “Shanghai spirit” based on mutual trust, and equal and open dialogue.
The Kazakh president pointed out that the membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is constantly expanding and the international authority and influence of the SCO are growing.
“We are faced with the task of fully unlocking the potential of the SCO. Increasing the effectiveness of the organization and developing multilateral cooperation in various fields is in the interest of all participating States. It is important to continue to improve the activities of the organization, to strengthen the forecast of the main trends in the SCO space and beyond”, regards the President of Kazakhstan.
He is confident that the activities of the SCO indicate the bearing of the fundamental principles drafted in the statutory documents of the organization. He called it the fight against the “three evils” of extremism, terrorism, and separatism. Other principles are the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, as well as non-interference in internal affairs.
Tokayev recalled that the SCO’s main priority remains the strengthening of regional security. “It is necessary to continue with the implementation of the previously adopted documents that provide for joint activities in this thematic area. Therefore, I propose to increase cooperation in the politico-military sphere between defense departments and special services,” he said.
He believes that maintaining cooperation between the SCO and the Central Asia Regional Information Coordination Center can play an important role, since the fight against cybercrime and the creation of an infrastructure to protect the information space of the SCO are particularly relevant today.
Tokayev sets an ambitious objective “to transform the SCO into a global economic platform.” He noted that today the Shanghai Cooperation Organization unites the world’s dynamically developing economies “with colossal human, technological and resource potential.”
The share of the SCO states accounts for about a quarter of world GDP, i.e. more than $23 billion. In addition, the participating countries have the richest reserves of energy resources, coal, rare metals, and renewable energy sources.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed that there is no antagonistic and bloc nature in the ideological and institutional footings of the SCO, which contributes to the development of the organization’s international authority.
“This is compelling evidence of the high demand for the organization. In my opinion, the SCO is the most successful international organization that exists in the modern world. We support the development of economic cooperation in the SCO in various forms for a gradual transition to the free movement of goods, capital, services and technologies. The implementation of large-scale economic projects within the framework of the SCO is intended to become a kind of engine of growth in the space of the organization. We are faced with the task of ensuring adequate funding for the organization’s project activities,” said the President of Kazakhstan.
According to him, there are all the essential economic instruments for this, and strategies, detailed programs, and interaction plans have been developed.
Tokayev named the prerogative vectors of economic cooperation, which are the transit and transport sector, and food and energy security.
“A great success in improving logistics interconnection was the adoption of the Concept of Cooperation among SCO countries on the development of efficient economic and transport corridors. We are talking about rail transport in the “China – Europe” direction and the Trans-Caspian international transport route, as well as plans to build a third rail crossing point on the border of Kazakhstan and China,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, urging Partners. of SCO to use the capabilities.
According to the President of Kazakhstan, the “Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran” railway has great potential, opening the shortest route from East Asia to the Persian Gulf countries.
In addition, transit and transport cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Central Asian states is developing dynamically. “We welcome the implementation of promising projects aimed at ensuring the interconnection of the countries of our region. We support efforts to expand transportation routes between Central and South Asia and to develop the North-South and East-West Trans-Eurasian Corridors. In general, we are in favor of creating new multimodal transport corridors and logistics centers and modernizing existing ones,” said Tokayev.
He referred separately to the issues of food and energy security, recalling that the SCO states are the largest producers and exporters of agricultural products in the world.
“We should stimulate the expansion of trade in agricultural products both within the SCO region and beyond. The participation of our states in ensuring the proper functioning of international food production and supply chains will help maintain stability in the global food market. We also note the need to pay more attention to the development and rational use of water resources. The joint development of the SCO Energy Strategy will contribute to ensuring global and regional energy balance. We consider it relevant to adopt a cooperation program in the field of the use of renewable energy sources”, said the President of Kazakhstan.
Concluding his remarks, the President said, “We all have high hopes for the SCO. I am sure that our multifaceted and fruitful cooperation within the organization will give a powerful impetus to the development of our states.”
