ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (APP):Chief Executive Officer, Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development (AIERD), Shakeel Ahmad Ramay on Monday said the focus of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is gradually shifting towards the economic linkages and development of member countries, whereas it is a good opportunity for Pakistan benefit from the transition to forge sustainable economic ties with member states.
The SCO has emerged as a regional forum aimed at building and strengthening all member countries amid fast global economic, social, and diplomatic changes leading to a changing power structure, where China appeared as one of the most powerful economic players and took the lead in raising voices for reforms to refine the global economic and governance system, the AIERD CEO said in a press statement on the SCO moot being held in Islamabad.
SCO, he said was created to solve minor issues related to border management and security, but later, it expanded. “SCO is the biggest regional organization in terms of size and population. Its members constitute about 40% of the world’s population and have a GDP of US$24 billion. They have 20% oil and 44% gas reserves. With the inclusion of Saudi Arabia and other aspirants, the market size, energy resource share (oil and gas), and economic size will be further enhanced. It is the only organization that hosts four nuclear-armed states (China, Russia, India, and Pakistan) and also hosts two members of the UN Security Council,” Shakeel Ahmad Ramay said.
The Chinese Prime Minister in 2004 urged all SCO countries to work for free trade agreements among SCO countries. In 2005, China also presented a 100-action document to deliberate further on it. In 2018, at the Heads of States meeting, it was emphasized that the trade procedure should be simplified for intra-regional trade. In 2019, SCO’s declaration again asked the countries to speed up their efforts for economic cooperation and enhancing trade. Fast forward to 2024, members approved second development strategy at the Head of State meeting. The members also agreed to cooperate in multiple sectors, including trade, investment and took a special initiative to involve the private in fostering investment cooperation, he said.
“China is championing economic cooperation and promoting investment and trade linkages in diverse fields, including technology. It is leading by example; we have already observed that It has increased its trade with the SCO in the last few years. Presently, China is almost the biggest trade partner of all SCO countries.
SCO’s two leading countries, China and Russia, have also presented their visions of future economic development and trade through the Belt and Route Initiative and the Eurasia Economic Union. These two initiatives also present excellent prospects for economic development in the future. As a member of the SCO, Pakistan has an excellent opportunity to benefit from the economic potential of the SCO, its platforms, and the initiatives of its member countries,” he said.
Unfortunately, he said Pakistan could not exploit the potential, and the current Pak-SCO trade statistics are low, except for China. Pakistan’s export and import figures for Central Asian States are not overwhelming as Pakistan’s total export to Uzbekistan is US$ 27.91 million, Kazakhstan US$ 107.2 million, Tajikistan US$ 32 million, and Kyrgyzstan is US$ 10.6 million, he added. On the import front, the situation is again the same. Pakistan’s imports from Uzbekistan are US$ 32.3 million, Kazakhstan is US$ 1.9 million, Tajikistan is US$ 202 million, and Kyrgyzstan is US$ 309 million.
“Second, Russia is another very important country and one of the leading architects of the SCO. Moreover, Russia is one of the leading economies and developed countries. It was a superpower and still enjoys a decisive role in international affairs. Unfortunately, Pakistan could not devise a policy to benefit from the Russian market. According to international trade statistics, Pakistan’s total exports to Russia are only US$ 88 million, and its imports are US$ 885 million worth. It is believed that the troubled history of both countries played a role in undermining the economic and trade linkages,” he added.
However, the good news is that Pakistan and Russia are trying to overcome their troubled history and improve their relationship. SCO and China provided an opportunity for both countries to break the ice, and now, both countries are working on further improvement. Moreover, Russia is also interested in using the Gwadar port for trade and connectivity. Thus, there is hope that these actions will help to improve trade, he added.
“The SWOT analysis indicates that Pakistan made many mistakes in the past, which created problems with low connectivity and trade with SCO countries. However, the prominent ones were ignoring the SCO countries, missing the dynamics of the Central Asian States and Eurasia region, and concentrating too much on Western markets.
In this context, Pakistan’s policy must be very smart and innovative. First, Pakistan must study the markets of all SCO countries. For that purpose, Pakistan should erect permanent bodies to study these countries’ markets and governance structures. A comprehensive understanding of all countries’ markets and governance structures will help Pakistan devise a wise, objective-oriented policy. Second, Pakistan should look for innovative ways to improve trade linkages,” he added.
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