The second meeting of the Consortium of Economic Analytical Centers of the SCO

Participants discussed country experiences and measures in the aftermath of the pandemic to restore economies and trade links

The second meeting of the Consortium of Economic Analytical Centers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, chaired by the Economic Research Institute (ERI), was held on September 27.

The event was opened by Vice-Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alibek Kuantyrov, Chairman of the Board of JSC "Institute of Economic Research" Ruslan Sultanov, SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov, National Coordinator of the Republic of Kazakhstan for SCO Activities Ali Yerlik.

«The joint work of our centers contributes to the development of trade and economic cooperation, the establishment of interactions in the field of scientific research, as well as the adoption of coordinated decisions to resolve common challenges," he stressed.

Vice-Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alibek Kuantyrov He noted that the SCO has become one of the most active and influential international regiona.organizations.

He also recalled that in Kazakhstan this year, within the framework of th.organization, it is planned to:

 - October 14-meeting of heads of ministries of the SCO economies.

 -On November 23-24, the meeting of the heads of government of the SCO member states will take place in Nur — Sultan.

The meeting was held in the format of a Zoom video conference in two sessions.

I session. Presentation of research results defined in the SCO First Consortium Action Plan.organized in 2020 by the Regional Trade Center (New Delhi, India).

Dr. Ram Upendra Das, Head and Professor at the Centre for Regional Trade (CRT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, delivered the talk.

Based on the research results of the SCO member states, Dr. Ram summarized the following:

• Recommendations of India on the development of startups, innovations and new technologies. Among them are the creation of an innovative system, cooperation in the field of IT, digital education, information and cybersecurity. 

• Recommendations of Kazakhstan on cooperation in the field of transport and communications. In particular, it will simplify the conduct of transit operations, electronic interaction between state agencies and operators of countries, reduce the accident rate and negative impact on the environment of motor transport, improve customs control and technical regulation.

The professor also presented China's recommendations on cooperation in cross-border electronic trade (CBET); Russia's recommendations on cooperation on economic development of remote and rural areas and regions; Tajikistan's recommendations on cooperation in food security; Uzbekistan's recommendations on the development of small business as a factor contributing to poverty reduction.

II Session. Discussion of measures taken in the framework of the fight against COVID-19 by the SCO states in order to restore economies and trade ties.

— Representatives of the participating countries made presentations at the session:

— Republic of India

— The Republic of Kazakhstan

—  People's Republic of China

— The Kyrgyz Republic

— The Islamic Republic of Pakistan

— Russian Federation

— The Republic of Tajikistan

— The Republic of Uzbekistan

Republic of India

Brahmleen Kaur Dua, a researcher at the Center for Regional Trade (CRT) in India, spoke.

She outlined the Government of India's key measures to ensure food security and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, measures to support people, trade and exports, social, medical and pharmaceutical sectors.

"To ensure the food security of the population during a pandemic, the Indian government conducted the largest food subsidy campaign in the country's history for the poorest people. The event covered about 800 million people, " the speaker said.

Speaking about the vaccination rate, she noted that the country is now supplied with 900 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. 2.15 million people in India have received both doses of the vaccine.

The Republic of Kazakhstan

Dolores Tyulebekova, Director of the Center of the Institute of Economic Research, spoke.

The speaker focused on the potential areas of cooperation development within the framework of the SCO Consortium.

Among them:

Strengthening trade and economic ties within the framework of the SCO

• trade liberalization to reduce the cost of products
• access to new markets
• increasing export-import flows
• expanding investment cooperation

Climate conservation

• more responsible management of natural resources

* general development of innovations

* reduction of enterprise emissions

Development of electronic commerce

* expanding market openness

* improvement of the regional logistics network to reduce trade costs

* improving the business climate for TET

Dolores Tulebekova also spoke about the "Digital Silk Road" project, within which 2951 projects worth $3.87 trillion are planned or being implemented by early January 2020.

"One Belt, One Road" is a plan for developing transnational infrastructure, linking five continents by land and sea corridors and industrial clusters, she said.

«The increased attention to healthcare and digital systems opens up new opportunities for joint innovations with the potential to create valuable jobs and solve global problems," the expert added.

People's Republic of China

Liu Huaqin, director and senior researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, spoke.

The expert spoke about the main measures of the People's Republic of China to restore the economy from the COVID-19 crisis.

1.    An increase in the level of vaccination with the coronavirus vaccine. By September, more than 78% of the population had been vaccinated with a free vaccine

2. Ensuring the stability of macroeconomics.

3. Ensuring employment. The number of sole proprietors this year reached 90 million people (80 million last year)

4. Ensuring effective financial and budgetary policy (stabilization of financial levers, taxes and payments reduced, measures to support employment).

5.    Improving the business climate (registration of public services via the Internet on the principle of a "single window").

6.    Improving the welfare of the people (compulsory education, basic medical care).

7.    Stimulating innovation.

8. Ensuring openness. Regional Economic Partnership Agreement RCEP.

Kyrgyz Republic

Almaz Isanov, director of the Institute for Economic Policy Research under the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Sultan Sarygulov, expert of the Bureau of Analytical Support, spoke.

Expert presentation was devoted to the topic o.organic industry and the development of cooperation between countries in this direction.

"The SCO countries have the world's largest potential for the production o.organic products," said Almaz Isanov.

According to him, India is a supplier of a significant share of the world'.organic products, which gives the SCO the opportunity to become a world leader in this direction.

Sultan Sarygulov spoke about the development of the nationa.organic industry in Kyrgyzstan. In particular, the country plans to develop new national standards based on a synthesis of culture, natural ecosystems, and modern nature-saving technologies, as well as plans to create a planetary laboratory and biopitery, an international academy, and a gene bank.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Sima Shafiq, administrative director of the Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD) of the Pakistani Ministry of Commerce, spoke. 

She noted that cooperation within the SCO creates opportunities for trade, economic, political and strategic cooperation. 

The expert singled out two recommendations to mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic development of trade and economic cooperation among the SCO member states in the post-Soviet period:

1.    Support of subjects of foreign economic activity, such as trade intermediaries and representatives, transporters and transport operators, customs structures.

2.    Improving interaction, dialogue and cooperation at all levels.

Russian Federation

Olga Ponomareva, a researcher at the Institute of International Economics and Finance of the VAVT, spoke.

The speaker spoke about the main measures of the Russian Federation to restore the economy and foreign trade relations in the fight against COVID-19, including measures in the following areas:

- general measures

- health

- social support

- taxes

- finance

- tourism

- transport

According to the expert, special attention was paid to the support of SMEs (gratuitous grants, concessional lending, subsidies) and the most affected industries (loan restructuring, tax holidays, the development of domestic tourism, support for airports and airlines), the development of digitalization and digital services, as well as income support for the population.

To support foreign trade activities, preferential lending was introduced for a number of companies, the allocation of state subsidies for certification of export products, simplification of import procedures for goods intended to combat coronavirus infection, Olga Ponomareva added.

The Republic of Tajikistan

Mavzuna Karimova, doctor of economic sciences, head of the department of foreign economic activity and development of integration processes, made a speech.

"Although no quarantine has been declared in the country, the government has taken a number of measures that have helped reduce the negative impact of the coronary crisis on the economy," the speaker noted.

According to her, in March 2020, Tajikistan adopted an Action Plan of the Government to prevent the impact of potential risks of the coronavirus pandemic on the national economy. The plan consisted of 23 points, including measures to increase import-substituting production, provide markets with essential products, increase stocks and prevent price increases, increase foreign investment, attract foreign support, support SMEs and so on.

The Republic of Uzbekistan

Mukhsinjon Kholmukhamedov, head of sector at the Center for Economic Research under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, spoke.

"The 2020 pandemic has had a negative impact not only on large industries, but also on the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, which employs about 72 percent of the working population in Uzbekistan," the speaker said.

According to his report, two packages of documents (a presidential decree and a number of NLAs) were adopted as part of an operational response to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic in Uzbekistan, and an Anti-Crisis Fund of one billion dollars was created,

The expert listed the main activities within the fund:

- combating the spread of COVID-19

- support for employment of the population

- ensuring the sustainability of economic sectors.

Ruslan Sultanov suggested create an expert team by the end of October this year to develop common approaches and methodologies for analyzing macroeconomic trends.

The next meeting of the experts of the SCO Consortium of Economic Analysis Centers is scheduled to be held in December 2021. As part of the event, an Action Plan for 2022 will be formed.

On the photo (from the left to the right): Ruslan Sultanov, Chairman of the ERI Board, and Ali Yerlik, the National Coordinator of the Republic of Kazakhstan for SCO Activities. 

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The SCO Consortium is a consultative and expert platform created to conduct analysis on priority areas of economic interaction within the SCO and to develop recommendations. By SCO Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) Decision No. "120" of November 2, 2019, the Regulations of the SCO Consortium of Economic Analytical Centers were approved.

This year, the SCO Consortium is chaired by Economic Research Institute, which has been appointed by the member of the Consortium from the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Within the framework of the first meeting of the SCO Consortium in August 2020, the directions of research on various vectors of economic cooperation were determined, following the completion of which a joint publication of the Consortium members is planned.

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