ASTANA – President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined his vision for the priority areas of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s development at the 25th SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Tianjin, China, on Sept. 1, reported the Akorda press service. His remarks spanned security to trade and logistics, as well as digitalization and environmental issues.
President Tokayev at the 25th SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Tianjin, China. Photo credit: akorda.kz
“Kazakhstan fully supports the key objectives of the SCO: an equitable multipolar world order, security and stability, non-interference in the internal affairs of states and recognition of their right to sovereign development, fair international trade, and mutually beneficial investment cooperation,” said Tokayev.
Security
The first priority, according to Tokayev, is to strengthen strategic partnership and mutual support within the organization.
“In this regard, we welcome the initiatives of the Chinese President on global development, global security, global civilization, and global governance. We consider it extremely important to fully implement the ten-year development strategy of the SCO that we are adopting today,” he said.
Amid the rise of international terrorism, religious extremism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, and cybercrime, cooperation in the field of security becomes another priority. Tokayev expressed Kazakhstan’s support for the establishment of four SCO centers to combat security challenges and threats.
Joint photo of the participants of the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO. Photo credit: akorda.kz
“Such threats to international security, including the ‘three evils,’ [terrorism, extremism, separatism] can only be overcome through joint action,” he said.
“We consider it important to strengthen business contacts between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. We call on SCO member states to continue providing humanitarian and technical assistance to Afghanistan for the country’s recovery and its integration into regional and economic processes,” said Tokayev.
Trade and logistics
All participating countries are seeing positive results in trade and logistics, with greater potential ahead, according to the Kazakh President.
“Since the establishment of the SCO, our countries’ contribution to global GDP has doubled, reaching 30%. Intraregional trade is showing impressive growth, with a volume exceeding $650 billion by the end of 2024. Kazakhstan’s trade turnover with SCO countries is also steadily growing, reaching nearly $70 billion last year,” said Tokayev.
“Kazakhstan supports China’s initiative to establish the SCO Development Bank and is ready to participate in the implementation of this promising project. In addition, we propose establishing an SCO Office for supporting promising investment projects and consolidating the activities of legal, consulting, and financial companies based at the Astana International Financial Centre,” he said.
President Tokayev highlighted the potential of the Belt and Road Initiative in the transit and transport sector, which has been supported by over 150 countries.
He brought up data, indicating that the project could generate up to $1.5 trillion in revenue annually for all participants in trade and logistics operations along the Belt and Road route.
“The North-South and East-West transport corridors, as well as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also open up great opportunities. The new initiative to establish a Trans-Altai Dialog looks promising. It aims to effectively utilize the potential of the vast Eurasian Altai region, which includes Kazakhstan, Russia, China, and Mongolia, in terms of its territory, population size, and economic power,” said Tokayev.
Digitalization
By 2033, the AI market volume could reach $5 trillion, increasing its share of the global technology industry to 30%. Tokayev emphasized this underscores the need to intensify cooperation in the fields of advanced technologies and digitalization.
“I am convinced that the SCO can become a global leader in the accelerated development of artificial intelligence. Therefore, we support China’s proposal to establish a Global Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and are ready to make our own contribution to this extremely important endeavor. We advocate for the development of effective cooperation across the entire spectrum of the digital agenda, including the implementation of ‘smart solutions’ in the real sector of the economy, healthcare, transportation and logistics, and city management systems,” Tokayev said.
As a practical step in this direction, he proposed the establishment of an SCO Expert Forum on Artificial Intelligence, with the prospect of convening it on a regular basis across the member states.
With regard to environmental challenges, Tokayev proposed the establishment of a SCO Water Problems Study Center in Kazakhstan.