A presentation of the state-owned China Development Bank called "Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Interbank Association: Cooperation for Development" was held at the Headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Beijing on 22 January 2018.
SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov and President of China Development Bank Zheng Zhijie, ambassadors and diplomats from the SCO family countries, experts and economists, as well as representatives of international financial institutions and mass media took part in the event.
The SCO Secretary-General noted the symbolism of holding the China Development Bank presentation in the year of China's presidency. The Bank is one of the world's largest financial institutions, the activities of which are aimed at supporting and stimulating socioeconomic development. "This event opens a series of events dedicated to the upcoming SCO summit, which will be held in Qingdao in the first half of June. The Bank is successfully expanding cooperation in the SCO member states, participates actively in financing major infrastructure projects and trade, international settlements, correspondent bank operations, trust services, bank personnel training and experience sharing," Rashid Alimov said.
"Since the establishment of the SCO Interbank Association, which includes major state financial institutions of the SCO member states, the China Development Bank has been making a valuable contribution to strengthening and developing this public institution. The SCO Interbank Association is an effective tool for banking, financial and investment cooperation. The Heads of Government of the SCO Member States who met in Sochi on 1 December 2017 approved the Strategy for Further Development of the Interbank Association of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation until 2021.
The interaction between the SCO Interbank Association and the financial institutions of the BRICS countries, East Asia, and others is being actively promoted.
"A Memorandum on the foundations of partner relations between the SCO Interbank Association and the Silk Road Fund was signed," the SCO Secretary-General noted and expressed hope that the China Development Bank, which took over the SCO Interbank Association presidency from Kazakhstan on 26 October 2017, would give a new impetus to the Association, which plays an important role in economic cooperation within the SCO space.
"The SCO is an exemplary international mechanism for promoting regional cooperation. The China Development Bank, which presides over the SCO Interbank Association, sees, as its prospective task, the further expansion of banking and financial cooperation and the intensification of the project cooperation, involving greater numbers of financial institutions of the countries of the region in joint development within the framework of the Association," Zheng Zhijie said. The CDB President also spoke highly of the activities of the SCO Secretariat and confirmed the SCO Interbank Association's willingness to make a significant contribution to economic cooperation within the SCO space.
Two videos covering the activities and achievements of the China Development Bank and plans for its presidency in the SCO Interbank Association were presented to the guests.
The guests also examined a themed photo exhibition of the China Development Bank.
China Development Bank was founded in 1994. In 2015, it was officially proclaimed a financial development institution by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Bank provides medium- and long-term funding for major socially important projects.
The SCO Interbank Association was established under the Agreement on Interbank Cooperation (Association) within the framework of the SCO on 26 October 2005 and is a mechanism for financing and providing banking services for investment projects supported by the governments of the member states of the Organisation in priority areas of cooperation. The member banks of the SCO IBA are the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, the China Development Bank, the Settlement and Savings Company of Kyrgyzstan, the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs State Corporation (Vnesheconombank, Russia), the Amonatbonk State Savings Bank (Tajikistan) and the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
With the accession to the status of SCO member states of the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan during the SCO summit in Astana in June 2017, the IBA Council is considering granting the status of a member bank of the SCO IBA to the Habib Bank Limited (Pakistan) and India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd., IIFCL.
The SCO IBA partner banks include the Joint-Stock Savings Bank Belarusbank, the Habib Bank Limited (Pakistan), and the Development Bank of Mongolia.
The China Development Bank will be chairing the SCO IBA from 26 October 2017 to 25 October 2018.