On June 14, Tashkent (in online format) hosted an international round table on the topic “Samarkand process: prospects for the modernization of the SCO”. The online meeting, organized by the International Institute of Central Asia and the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Research under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was attended by scientists, diplomats and specialists from research institutes of the SCO states.
Director of the CSR under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Khayriddin Usmonzoda made a video message at the panel session of the international round table on the topic “The role of the Samarkand summit in promoting the deepening of the strategic mutual trust of the SCO member states”. We bring to your attention the full version of the video message.
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For the first time after the covid restrictions, the meeting of the leaders of the SCO states in Samarkand in September 2022 and the documents adopted as a result of it showed that the organization is keeping pace with the changing geopolitical situation in the world and the region. Along with the members of the organization, the participation in the summit of leaders of observer states and dialogue partners indicates that the role of the organization is becoming increasingly important in the pace of developing economies that are relatively vulnerable to external shock waves, especially at a time when geopolitical conflicts heating up, global supply chains are fragmented and the global economy is weakened.
Taking into account these circumstances, the agenda of the summit was indeed intense, it actively discussed the prospects for deepening cooperation between states, the tasks of adapting the SCO to new geopolitical realities, finding a response to global threats and challenges, strengthening foreign policy cooperation, and improving the efficiency of works in the economic sphere were also in the spotlight. The result of a detailed discussion of these problems between the leaders of the SCO member states was the Samarkand Declaration, which belongs to the main document of the summit.
The main provisions of this document were statements about the inadmissibility of interference in the affairs of states under the pretext of countering terrorism; strengthening the multilateral trading system, based on the principles and rules of the WTO, and speaking out against protectionist actions and trade restrictions; giving real assessments of the international situation and maintaining a more just world order;
deepening cooperation for the purpose of security and stability in the region, etc. The fact that these provisions found unanimous support among the states participating in the summit actually indicates that the SCO has shown itself to be a positive, stable and constructive force in world affairs. The potential accession of a large number of members to the organization will further expand the ability of the SCO states to reduce the negative impacts of risks and increase their influence on the world market.
The Samarkand summit made it clear that economic and financial cooperation between members of the bloc is becoming closer in view of the processes taking place in the world today. With this in mind, Tajikistan, in the margins of the Samarkand summit, proposed to develop an SCO Economic Development Strategy until 2030. This strategy aims to stimulate global economic growth by the SCO states in the face of growing market problems and uncertainty.
In developing this strategic document, Tajikistan primarily proceeded from the premise that the Strategy should be a reflection of agreed views toward expanding economic cooperation, coordinating and «bridging» national strategies and multilateral projects in the medium term. The key goal of the Strategy is to create favorable conditions for ensuring a strategic breakthrough of the SCO in the economic sphere, aimed at improving the standard of living and quality of life of the peoples of our states. An important place in the implementation of the Strategy belongs to the principle of «green development», which implies joint efforts in increasing the rate of economic growth with minimal impact on the environment.
Many SCO member states are Tajikistan’s natural economic partners. The foreign trade turnover of our republic with SCO states shows a progressive growth dynamics.
In the context of the Samarkand Declaration, food security was identified as one of the priority areas of economic cooperation in the SCO space. Despite the efforts made, it should be noted that our state also faces new problems caused by the current state of the international situation and the consequences of the sanctions imposed by European states and the United States against some of our strategic partners, from which we imported some types of food products. As a consequence of these phenomena, first of all, we see a certain jump in prices for food products, energy resources, a jump in prices for foreign currencies. Since many states in the region, including Tajikistan, are highly dependent on food imports, naturally they suffer the most from shocks in the food markets. Therefore, it can be assumed that further increases in world prices will increase the risks for emerging markets, including Tajikistan.
The Samarkand summit showed that the SCO remains committed to global development, global security. With this in mind, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, his excellency Emomali Rakhmon, focused politicians’ attention on security issues. In his opinion, cooperation in this sphere should remain a priority. He stressed that the SCO states should, in particular, monitor the situation in Afghanistan and act proactively.
At the Samarkand summit, a special place was given to discussing the problems of strengthening logistics systems and cooperation ties between SCO members. Central Asian governments took the opportunity to raise the issue of improving transport links with China based on the infrastructure and institutions already being created by the Belt and Road Initiative.
In general, the provisions of the Samarkand Initiative are fully consistent with the needs for peaceful, sustainable, stable development of the world community and the rational management of global processes.
The Republic of Tajikistan has always advocated for the SCO to be an open and inclusive mechanism, and supports the process of SCO expansion. The SCO member states, with their vast civilizational experience of promoting ties and relations between different peoples, have always shown respect for each other’s economic prosperity and support for cultural diversity. Lean on such accumulated historical experience, today they uphold not only the principles of inclusive development, but also uphold universal human values and show respect for them. This spirit contributes to expanding the horizons of interaction and integration of our states in various spheres.
For representatives of the expert community, it is obvious that the modern world is going through difficult times today and there are constantly points of instability that bring grief and hardship to many. Unfortunately, such tensions cannot but affect the social life of our states. They have already appeared, and if unmanageable, they will continue to create huge problems in areas such as geopolitics, production chains, financial markets, supply chains, etc.
In view of this, our states are equally concerned about the threats of the food crisis, energy and climate change. These threats concern not only the regions belonging to the SCO member states, but they equally concern all developing states. We see that the SCO states are equally concerned about this and are strenuously looking for ways to peacefully resolve the existing contradictions. In this context, we welcome India’s initiative to support developing states, developed at the suggestion of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the SCO Economic Development Strategy until 2030, the Samarkand initiative put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, etc.
These initiatives fully meet the requirements of peaceful, sustainable, stable development of the world community and rational management of global processes. Our states not only put forward initiatives, but also constantly contribute to their implementation.
Press service of the Center for
Strategic Research under the
President of the Republic of Tajikistan
