DUSHANBE, September 17, 2015, Asia-Plus – The 14th Ministerial Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on economy and trade was held in Xi”an, the capital of China’s Shaanxi Province, on September 16.
Chinese news agency
Xinhua
reports the member countries exchanged views on maintaining regional peace and stability, as well as deepening cooperation in various fields such as energy, transport infrastructure, and efficient use of energy resources.
The SCO members reportedly made a consensus on strengthening cooperation within the bloc countries along the Belt and Road, and promoting regional economic development to a new level. Representatives from SCO members shared their views on the benefits of deepening cooperation among member countries.
“The One Belt and One Road initiative is an important initiative that China has issued. It has promoted communication and cultural exchanges among countries within the bloc. We hope to push forward cooperation in the fields of agriculture, energy, transportation and trade.”
“We visited Shaanxi Coal Group, and are very impressed by its comprehensive and eco-friendly development. We will have a much greater space for cooperation on that matter. In addition, the technological development in Shaanxi is very impressive,” Tajik Minister of Economic Development and Trade Nematullo Hikmatullozoda said.
This time discussion mainly focused on implementing the important achievements from the SCO UFA Summit, which was held in July.
The meeting reached nine specific measures including starting the five-year regional economic development plan which involves projects from more than 10 areas, and total investment has reached billions of US dollars.
In addition, further promoting trade facilitation as well as expanding the trade platform were discussed.
After the meeting, Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng stated that in addition to promoting investment in the textile, electrical appliance, chemical, and agriculture industries, pushing the connectivity cooperation will greatly benefit the whole region.
Based on Chinese President Xi Jinping”s proposal to construct 4000 kilometers of railway and 10,000 kilometers of roads within the regional bloc in the next few years, the members reportedly reached consensus on speeding up the construction of existing projects and develop regional logistics hubs and ports.
In addition, member countries also reached consensus on deepening customs cooperation and strengthening regional financing. Member countries will make full use of China credit funds, as well as funds from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund. In addition, the countries also agreed to carry out the swap and local currency settlement, to resist financial risks.
