SCO economic cooperation enjoys bright future

Economic cooperation among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has huge potential and a bright future, a Russian business leader has said.

Born as a regional group to promote regional security, the SCO has grown into an organization whose members have actively conducted economic cooperation over the years, Georgy Petrov, vice president of the Russian Trade and Commerce Chamber, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

He said a memorandum on promoting regional economic cooperation, as well as trade and investment facilitation signed in the Kazakh city Almaty in 2001 could be seen as the starting point for the economic cooperation among the SCO countries.

In 2003, a program of multilateral economic cooperation under the SCO framework adopted in Beijing marked another milestone of the growing business ties among the SCO states, said Petrov.

"We are looking forward to the Bishkek summit, hoping that the meeting will encourage multilateral economic cooperation," he said, referring to the 13th meeting of the Council of Heads of the SCO Member States to be held in the Kyrgyz capital on Sept. 13.

Though commercial interests of different members may not be 100 percent the same, similar positions can help them to defend national interests in the World Trade Organization and other international bodies, he explained.

Multilateral cooperation within the SCO in transportation has been positive, Petrov said, adding cooperation in information technology and energy is also notable within the bloc.

Energy cooperation among the SCO countries could be fruitful, since each member could contribute to the process, such as building pipelines and other infrastructure, as well as conducting joint geological researches, he said.

Forging closer business ties is another goal for the SCO members, Petrov said.

China and Russia could facilitate multilateral economic cooperation within the mechanism, he added.

The two countries are pioneers in using their own currencies for trade settlement, he said, adding he believed both the ruble and the yuan could play the role of reserve currency in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independence States) economic spheres.

"That won't happen tomorrow but we may set these ambitious goals," he added. [ As for the initiative to create an SCO development bank, Petrov said it was an interesting idea which requires several preconditions to be fulfilled. "We need no hurry in that case."

On the topic of setting up an SCO special account, Petrov said such an account will be very helpful for multilateral economic cooperation projects, yet he also admitted the job is highly complex with many problems remaining unsolved.

He suggested that the SCO countries bring their developmental financial institutions into multilateral cooperation framework, so that their rich financial assets could facilitate two-way trade among the SCO companies.

Meanwhile, there should not be rivalry between the SCO and existing regional economic blocs, he noted.

For example, the Customs Union which groups Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is an open association, and "is not going to build another Berlin Wall."

The most important thing is to "find the multilateral projects which would strengthen multilateral ties and increase welfare of the people of our countries," said the expert.

Speaking of the upcoming SCO summit in Bishkek, Petrov said regional security would be the main topic at the meeting.

He said the situation in Afghanistan would be very complex in 2014 for no one can tell what the country will look like when the NATO forces withdraw.