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.
