Global crisis to boost SCO's economic activities: expert

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-13 20:30

ALMATY -- The current global financial crisis can actually boost the economic activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Kazakh expert on political affairs said.

The regional body needs to change its model of cooperation in order to launch cooperation projects on a large scale in Central Asia,  Konstantin Syroezhkin, chief researcher at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, said in a recent interview with Chinese media.

On the future of the SCO, Syroezhkin said it depends on the role of the regional body in the current financial crisis and whether member states can overcome the crisis.

Due to the crisis,  economic security has become the first priority of all countries and it needs united action to deal with it, Syroezhkin said.

The financial crisis, in fact, is consolidating economic cooperaton within the SCO, he said.

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He said China's support is of great significance for member states of the SCO to deal with the financial crisis.

The SCO can set up a common energy market and a unified system of transportation and logistics, which will not only help create jobs but also lay a sound foundation for future development, Syroezhkin said.

He said the upcoming SCO summit, to be held in Russia's Ural city of Yekaterinburg in mid June, will approve a series of documents on security.

Syroezhkin said it was necessary to speed up the introduction of   cooperation deals on international information security and the fight aginst drug trafficking within the framework of the regional organization.

Commenting on the international status of the SCO, Syroezhkin said the regional body has been playing an important role in security in Central Asia.

The SCO is the only regional organization that includes China, Russia and almost all countries in Central Asia, Syroezhkin said.

He said the SCO also needs to cooperate with international organizations, such as the Commonwealth of Independent States and its affiliated collective security body, economic communities in Asia and Europe, NATO and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Syroezhkin said the SCO members, which are united by a common goal that cannot be achieved without human and cultural cooperation, must also strengthen mutual understanding.

He said the SCO should move forward with cultural cooperation and put into effect signed agreements in the field.
 
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