President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at the beginning of his speech at online SCO Summit on 4 July 2023: “In the context of a radical transformation of the global world order, we are witnessing an unprecedented increase in geopolitical tensions, the intensification of trade and sanctions wars and many other modern challenges. It is becoming commonplace to undermine the foundations of international law and its important principle – equal, joint, indivisible, comprehensive and sustainable security. In this regard, we need to remain committed to the formation of a more representative, democratic and multipolar world with the central and coordinating role of the UN.”
The head of Kazakhstan presented the priorities of the country’s upcoming chairmanship in the SCO.
“The first. Ensuring security and stability in the SCO space. By creating the Organization, we agreed to jointly search for solutions to the problems that will arise in the XXI century. At this stage, the main task of our countries should be to prevent a geopolitical rift between East and West. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization can and should offer the world community its vision of a sustainable world. Therefore, within the framework of its chairmanship, Kazakhstan will present the initiative “On World Unity for Just Peace and Harmony”. This comprehensive document will lay down the principles of strengthening confidence-building measures, maintaining stability and security,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
He believes that efforts should be directed at updating the Program of Cooperation on Countering Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism for 2025-2027. At the same time, Kazakhstan proposes to adopt the SCO Anti-Drug Strategy for 2024-2029 and an Action Program for its implementation. Special attention should be paid to overcoming the crisis in Afghanistan. Kazakhstan once again proposed to pay due attention to the initiative to establish the UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals for Central Asia and Afghanistan in Almaty.
The President called the expansion of trade and economic ties his second priority. According to him, the advantages of the SCO are the geographical connectivity of states, transit and transport opportunities, a huge market and complementarity of economies.
“Despite this, it should be recognized that for more than 20 years it has not been possible to implement a single major economic project under the auspices of the SCO. An obvious factor is the lack of financial support mechanisms for project activities. Therefore, I propose to instruct the Council of Heads of Government to consider the possibility of creating a joint investment fund and make proposals on this important project. The Astana International Financial Center, which has absorbed the best experience of global financial institutions, can become an effective platform for stimulating direct and portfolio investments in SCO regional projects,” Tokayev continued.
Speaking about the prospects for the effective use of transit and transport opportunities, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev drew attention to the strategic importance of a modern transport infrastructure and new competitive routes. As a practical measure, he proposed to create a Partner network of major strategic ports and logistics centers.
The leader of Kazakhstan believes that strengthening energy cooperation is of particular importance today. In this regard, he proposed to coordinate the Energy Strategy for the next Astana SCO Summit and expressed readiness to hold the SCO Energy Forum in Kazakhstan.
Another priority is the expansion of cooperation in the digital sphere. According to Tokayev, the digital gap between different countries and social groups remains urgent. “Kazakhstan has created favorable conditions for a comprehensive digital transformation. IT solutions are being systematically introduced into the public administration system, developed banking ecosystems have appeared, the financial technology market is expanding, and e-commerce is gaining momentum. Kazakhstan offers its services as a Digital hub in the SCO space. Therefore, I think it is important to hold the SCO Digital Forum in Astana in 2024, dating it to the first meeting of the Governing Commission of the Pool of Technoparks and Innovation Clusters,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested.
In his opinion, an important area of work is environment. Kazakhstan proposes to focus on the following tasks: to establish SCO partnerships with the UN Environment Program, to develop an Agreement on cooperation in the field of environmental protection, to adopt a cooperation program for the development of specially protected natural areas and ecological tourism.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev separately focused on the development of cultural and humanitarian ties. He believes that tourism is one of the most effective tools for bringing countries and peoples closer together. The SCO space, covering 45% of the world’s population, is a huge tourist market, the potential of which has not yet been realized.
At the same time, the President noted that today the SCO has confidently embarked on the path of renewal. In his opinion, it is time to adopt a new Development Strategy of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Kazakhstan has developed a draft of this document and plans to present it as part of its upcoming presidency. “The new Strategy is designed to expand the SCO agenda in the most promising areas of our cooperation. Further improvement of the Organization’s activities will be an important step in effectively responding to new challenges and adapting the SCO to modern realities,” he added.
Tokayev also proposed to adopt the Concept of Strengthening the SCO’s Potential by the next Summit in Astana and, based on the experience of other international organizations, create a Council of Permanent Representatives to the SCO.
“Taking the baton of the chairmanship, we will continue active and fruitful work with all states, regardless of their status in the Organization, for the benefit of further strengthening security, peace and prosperity in the SCO space,” the President of Kazakhstan summed up his speech.///nCa, 5 July 2023
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