Prime Minister Askar Mamin chairs 20th meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government

Prime Minister Askar Mamin took part in the 20th anniversary meeting of the Council of Heads of Government, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), chaired by Kazakhstan via videoconference.

The Head of Government noted the significant progress achieved this year in the implementation of the Program of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation of the SCO Member States.

For 7 months of 2021, the volume of mutual trade within the SCO increased by almost 40%. Trade turnover of Kazakhstan with the countries of the Organization for January-September 2021 grew by 19.1% compared to the same period in 2020 and amounted to $36.5 billion. This figure is also higher than the same period in the pre-pandemic 2019 by 22.1% ($29.9 billion).

Askar Mamin noted the need to stimulate trade in agricultural products between the SCO member states, to ensure an accelerated and phased implementation of the SCO Cooperation Program on Food Security and the Plan for its implementation. Despite the pandemic, in 2020 the commodity turnover of agricultural products within the SCO increased by 12.4% and amounted to $15.4 billion.

Prime Minister Askar Mamin proposed to consider the possibility of creating the food security reserve of the SCO member states and food investment fund, as well as to step up work on the implementation of the SCO Green Belt Program.

In order to fully realize the potential of mutual trade of the SCO member states, the Head of Government proposed to consider the possibility of more active integration into the Eurasian trade and commodity distribution system initiated by the Kazakh side.

The Prime Minister noted significant progress in realizing the SCO's transit and transport potential. For 10 months of this year through the territory of Kazakhstan in the directions of Central Asia, the countries of the Persian Gulf, Europe, the Far East, as well as along the Trans-Caspian route, about 883.2 thousand TEUs were transported, which is 25% more than the same period last year. The volume of transit container traffic in the direction of China - Europe - China increased by 36% and amounted to 604.5 thousand TEU.

“Further implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, programs of the Government of Kazakhstan in order to realize the potential of the republic as the largest transit hub in the region, as well as tasks for the development of transport infrastructure within the framework of the SCO Development Strategy until 2025 form a solid foundation for the further integration of our countries and building up the potential for the output of our value to the markets of third countries,” Mamin said.

The Head of Government stressed that the current situation at railway crossings on the border with China carries risks for the further increase in transit traffic flows. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan appealed to his Chinese colleagues with a request to consider taking prompt measures to restore and increase cargo flows, which will positively affect the volume of trade in the entire region.

The meeting was attended by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Premier of the PRC State Council Li Keqiang, Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers - Head of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov, Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kokhir Rasulzoda, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of Mongolia Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, First Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber, Deputy Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and others.

Measures to deepen cooperation between the SCO member states in trade and economic and cultural and humanitarian spheres were discussed. The activities of the Business Council and the SCO Interbank Association for 2020-2021, the Organization's budget for 2022 and other issues related to the financial and organizational activities of the permanent bodies of the SCO were considered. A joint communiqué and the Concept for the creation of the SCO Technopark Pool were adopted.

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