The Astana SCO summit was marked by a curious trend of shifting emphasis to the economy. Of the 25 signed cooperation documents, six relate to this area in one way or another. The main ones include decisions on approving the Action Plan to implement the Economic Development Strategy for the period until 2030, on the Association of Investors, as well as on financial support mechanisms for project activities.
In 2022, the Samarkand Forum adopted a roadmap to increase the share of settlements in national currencies. Although not all member states are involved due to the sensitivity of the issue and internal constraints. In addition, a Joint Action Plan for the intraregional trade development within the SCO was adopted at the same time. In 2019, at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government in Tashkent, a new version of the program of multilateral trade and economic cooperation of the SCO countries until 2035 was adopted.
The practical implementation of these documents should give impetus to mutual trade and investment in the SCO, as well as help revive the economic track.
All SCO countries are developing and demonstrate high GDP growth rates - from 4% to 9%. This means that they have a skilled workforce, and therefore the potential for further development. That is why all the SCO countries are interested in expanding trade cooperation.
The volume of mutual trade between the SCO countries is still small - about $500 billion per year, which is only 10% of the total foreign trade turnover. For comparison, in ASEAN it reaches almost a third of the total, in the EU it exceeds half. However, over the past 20 years, this indicator has increased 20 times, which indicates the effectiveness of economic ties between the countries of the association.
At the same time, China alone imports more than $2 trillion worth of goods annually (the SCO countries account for $126 billion, mainly energy). In fiscal year 2022-2023, India imported goods worth $892 billion.
Given that about half of the world's population lives in the SCO, the capacity of its consumer and other markets is huge (more than $3.8 trillion in total), which creates great opportunities for mutual trade. Although this is always, by and large, a matter of bilateral trade and economic relations between the member countries, and the SCO only forms a favorable ecosystem for this.
In 2023, the SCO member states accounted for 70.4% of the total trade turnover of Belarus, and by the end of the first four months of this year - 71.4%. The dynamics are obvious.
In his congratulation on Belarus' accession to the SCO, Secretary General Zhang Ming noted that "the development potential, domestic and foreign policy of Belarus demonstrate a high degree of strategic vision and pragmatism and make a significant contribution to the prosperity and stability of the region and the world as a whole," and expressed confidence that our country's membership will give the organization new energy. Indeed, if we move at the same pace in the spheres of economy and trade in the new status as in the humanitarian track (one of the first Belarusian initiatives is to hold the Day of National Cultures of the SCO member states at the site of the Slavyansky Bazaar in Vitebsk), the result will not take long to wait. I am sure this will be the case, taking into account the traditional proactive position of Minsk. Moreover, Zhang Ming also indicated his readiness to support Belarus' participation in the SCO activities and promote in-depth cooperation between Belarus and the member states.
Such a forecast almost accurately reflects public demand and expectations. According to a sociological survey conducted by the BISR in June, more than 60% of respondents believe that it is in the sphere of economy, trade and finance that Belarus should actively cooperate with the SCO. Almost 70% see the opportunity to sell their products there in the conditions of closing Western markets. More than 30% of citizens see the organization as a source of investment, technology and loans.