STATEMENT by Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Responsible for Foreign Trade and Foreign Economic Activity, Issues of Equitable Trade and Sustainable Development

We, the ministers of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation responsible for foreign trade and foreign economic activity, aiming to promote economic cooperation and mutual trade interests,

Relying on the commitment of the SCO member states to the principles of the SCO Charter;

Recognising valuable experience accumulated during constructive economic cooperation between the SCO member states;

Striving to promote the prosperity, living standards and well-being of nations in the SCO space;

Reaffirming the significance of sustainable economic development in the SCO region;

Reaffirming the significance of boosting the economic competitiveness of the SCO member states in order to increase their share in global trade;

Recognising progress achieved in strengthening trade relations between the SCO member states and marked by greater volumes and diversified trade structure, as well as the creation of more sustainable supply chains;

Noting that constructive cooperation has made a substantial contribution to the SCO region’s economic stability and growth and benefited over three billion people, hereby state the following:

We reaffirm the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in regulating international trade, we support essential WTO reforms and the soonest possible resumption of the two-tier dispute settlement system with an appellate body, and we advocate simplified trade procedures for facilitating the creation of sustainable global supply chains.

We support joint efforts to oppose protectionist trade measures running counter to WTO norms and regulations and will continue working to strengthen an open, equitable, all-inclusive and transparent multilateral trade system, based on WTO norms and regulations and guided by WTO principles.

Recognising that the development of digital technologies plays a decisive role in ensuring sustainable economic growth, we pledge to facilitate innovation development in the SCO region. We also strive to coordinate our positions as regards the introduction of digital technologies in foreign trade and foreign economic activity, incentivising innovations and the development of digital technologies in the SCO space. We also support the use of digital transformation’s capabilities, including the digital public infrastructure, to achieve digital financial accessibility.

We strive to cooperate in the field of e-commerce (digital commerce), including with the involvement of the Ad Hoc SCO Working Group on E-Commerce, and we intend to continue specialised discussions, among other things, for studying existing mechanisms for protecting e-commerce partners, as well as opportunities for integrating small- and medium-sized businesses in global VAT chains by using e-commerce tools.

We devote special attention to expanding collaboration between start-ups and start-up development institutions from the SCO member states, to faccilitating favourable conditions for the development of innovations and creating additional jobs within the framework of mechanisms of the Ad Hoc SCO Working Group on Start-Ups and Innovations, as well as the SCO Start-Ups Forum.

We praise the significance of the creative economy as a factor for attaining the trajectory of sustainable economic growth of the SCO member states. We support expanded substantive collaboration aiming to make SCO’s creative industries more competitive, to promote their innovation development and to involve businesses and enterprises of the SCO member states’ creative industries in international supply chains.

We strive to deepen cooperation and to expand multilateral exchanges in the field of digital technologies, to share knowledge and experience for eliminating digital inequality between the SCO member states. We also support discussions on the possibility of strengthening cooperation between the SCO member states to expand the AI potential in order to boost the competitiveness of the SCO member states’ economies on the global market.

Heeding risks linked with climate change, we strive to strengthen cooperation in trade and economic development in accordance with national priorities and the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.

We reaffirm the importance of strengthening the role of existing mechanisms within the framework of the Meeting of Ministers of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Responsible for Foreign Trade and Foreign Economic Activity in facilitating long-term economic progress and ensuring an effective response to arising trade and economic challenges.

We recognise the importance of expanding responsible financing practices for creating a more favourable investment climate in the entire SCO region.

We support efforts to strengthen cooperation in organising fairs and exhibitions in order to showcase the trade and commercial potential of the SCO member states, expanding mutual trade in the SCO space and creating additional opportunities for businesses.

We oppose protectionist actions, unilateral sanctions and trade restrictions, which undermine the multilateral trade system and hamper sustainable global development.

We express our firm determination to help strengthen trade ties, facilitate innovations and sustainable development to promote economic growth, stability and prosperity for the SCO member states and their citizens.

We praise the commitment of all SCO member states and their efforts to promote cooperation for achieving success in our common efforts.