BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, September 1. Kazakhstan
supports China's initiative to establish an SCO Development Bank,
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, Trend's special
correspondent reports.
Tokayev made the statement while addressing the meeting of the
Council of Heads of State of the SCO member states in Bishkek.
"Kazakhstan supports China's initiative to establish an SCO
Development Bank. We consider it appropriate to direct the bank's
resources primarily toward infrastructure, technological and
industrial projects. If there is consensus among the member states,
Kazakhstan could host this institution and its headquarters,"
Tokayev said.
The head of state noted that strengthening trade, economic and
investment cooperation is of strategic importance. He said that
through joint efforts, trade turnover among SCO countries is
steadily approaching $1 trillion.
"However, in our view, economic interconnectedness does not yet
fully correspond to the existing opportunities. It is important to
make maximum use of the resource, production and technological
potential of the SCO member states, create new growth points and
sustainable business ties. Kazakhstan advocates creating a broad
SCO trade and investment space with minimal barriers, digital
procedures and developed transport and logistics connectivity. We
consider it important to move from agreements to concrete
initiatives. We propose introducing a mechanism for pilot
industrial consortia that would allow states to implement projects
as they become ready, without waiting for all participants to join.
Successful initiatives could be scaled up across the Organization,"
the president said.
According to Tokayev, another important step could be the launch
of SCO cross-border trade zones based on existing cross-border
cooperation centers.
"This would allow for testing simplified trade, digital
procedures and modern mechanisms for mutual settlements," the
president said.
