SCO Heads of Government Council Meeting

Mikhail Mishustin took part in the SCO Heads of Government Council Meeting.

The heads of delegations of SCO member states:

Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko

Minister for External Affairs of the Republic of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

First Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Reza Aref

Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov

Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic - Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Japarov

Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang

Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan - Chairman of the SCO Heads of Government Council Shehbaz Sharif

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin

Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda

Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov

Mikhail Mishustin's address:

Mr Shehbaz Sharif, colleagues,

To begin with, I would like to congratulate our Pakistani friends and partners on assuming the chairmanship of the SCO Heads of Government Council for the first time and thank them for their warm welcome and excellent organisation of our events in Islamabad. I would also like to congratulate our colleague, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Roman Golovchenko, on his first attendance of the SCO Heads of Government Council meeting.

President Vladimir Putin noted at the Astana summit in July 2024: "Given the current global conditions marked by rapid and irreversible changes, the proactive stance of the SCO in international affairs is unquestionably highly sought after. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS are the main pillars of this new world order."

Pressure is mounting on Russia, but those who impose sanctions on us will not attain their goals. We are focused on realising our potential and supporting the key spheres of the national economy and relevant enterprises.

Thanks to the development of the real economy sectors, Russia's GDP increased by 4.2 percent in the first eight months of 2024. Investment in fixed assets grew by nearly 11 percent in the first six months of this year.

We are working actively to strengthen cooperation with the friendly countries that share our values. Last year, Russia's trade with the SCO member states reached a record high volume of 30 trillion roubles and has grown by 5.5 percent in the first six months of the year.

It is particularly important to promote economic cooperation between the SCO states with a focus on the implementation of President Vladimir Putin's Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative.

We should get down to the practical realisation of all agreements reached within the SCO.

We regard the development of transport connectivity between our countries and the establishment of reliable and efficient logistics routes as a priority.

By making full use of the transit potential of the East-West and North-South routes, we will be able to increase commodity flow and make travel more comfortable for our citizens.

Russia is working together with its CIS partners and Iran to promote the North-South international transport corridor. We are taking a package of measures to modernise and renovate rail, road and sea infrastructure. I am confident that this will create new trade possibilities and new benefits for our businesses.

The Agreement on Creating Favourable Conditions for International Road Transportation, which came into effect several years ago, stipulates the construction of six routes with multilateral logistics solutions. Regrettably, it is not being implemented. We call on our colleagues to settle their differences and start implementing this agreement. I am sure that this will promote the development of road transportation and the network of roads throughout Eurasia.

We should also pay more attention to the decarbonisation and digital transformation of transport, as well as the introduction of modern technologies to reduce emission levels and increase the use of clean and renewable energy. The necessary documents have been approved.

Russia also calls for closer interaction in civil aviation. Our agencies should hold more in-depth discussions on progressing in this sphere with due regard for the experience of the existing mechanisms involving SCO member states.

In order to strengthen our trade and economic cooperation, we must protect our financial sector from third country influence. We should focus on the implementation of the roadmap for increasing the share of national currencies in mutual settlements, which our leaders approved two years ago, and remove the obstacles that are hindering this.

At the same time, we should create an independent payments system within the SCO, for example, in the form of electronic platforms, banking institutions, or a system of authorised fiscal agencies. This will create comfortable and predictable conditions for doing business.

We recognise the need for a transparent mechanism to facilitate financial support for our organisation's projects. One potential approach is to establish a dedicated account to fund initiatives in their nascent stages. These projects will be realised through public-private partnerships, concession agreements, state budgets, development institutions, and other forms of blended finance.

We welcome the inception of the Meeting of Heads of National Antimonopoly Agencies of the SCO Member States, launched in May of this year. We propose to establish a similar framework for co-operation within national statistics authorities.

Our nations are tasked with achieving technological sovereignty, making it imperative to leverage broad opportunities for enhancing industrial co-operation.

We are committed to advancing our shared objectives, a commitment underscored by the outcomes of the events held on the sidelines of the Innoprom International Industrial Exhibition in July in Yekaterinburg. These events were co-organised by the SCO Secretariat and the Business Council.

We are exploring the feasibility of convening a series of round tables focused on the implementation of national industrial policies, the utilisation of electronic platforms, industrial innovations, as well as new materials and standardisation in the realm of IT solutions. We anticipate the participation of all partners in this endeavour.

We place significant emphasis on the digitalisation of economic sectors, ensuring mutual access to high technologies and employing advanced security models within the SCO digital space.

As a concrete measure, we propose to expedite the adoption and implementation of the roadmap for the Programme for AI Cooperation among the SCO Member States.

The SCO Startup Forum serves as a platform for sharing best practices in the field of innovation and launching joint projects. We are actively considering hosting this event next year in Russia, working in close collaboration with India on the agenda. The event promises to attract budding entrepreneurs and investors from our respective countries.

Harmonised approaches towards energy security issues are essential. The SCO region harbours significant reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal. Our countries rank among the world's largest consumers of energy and energy products. We will continue to develop cross-border sectoral infrastructure, guided by the strategy approved by our leaders in July this year.

Expanding academic ties through new projects in science, education, culture, healthcare, tourism, and sports is of utmost importance. These topics were actively debated during events in Russia in September, particularly at the Forum of Heads of SCO Member States' Regions in Omsk. Additionally, in Skolkovo and Dubna, the SCO Business Incubator international youth programme was attended by 50 delegates from nine countries. In December, we look forward to welcoming the heads of sanitary and epidemiological services in St Petersburg.

Colleagues, friends,

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation unites 10 member states and 16 observer nations. As has been noted today, it geographically encompasses nearly the entire Eurasian continent. Our nations are home to almost half of the global population and contribute approximately 30 percent of the world's GDP. This remarkable potential must be harnessed for the common good and in the interests of each member state.

During the forthcoming Russian chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, our focus will be on bolstering co-operation across all the areas I have previously delineated. We are committed to translating conceptual and programme documents into tangible action. Naturally, in this endeavour, we rely on the steadfast support of all member states and, crucially, on close coordination with China, as the current chair of the SCO.

I am confident that the SCO possesses every opportunity to emerge as one of the formidable centres of the equitable multipolar world currently taking shape. Together, we have the capability to achieve this - fostering economic prosperity for our nations and citizens.

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