Non-Governmental Mechanisms

The Business Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO BC) was established in accordance with a decision of the SCO Heads of State Council. The Regulations of the SCO Business Council were adopted on 14 June 2006 in Shanghai, China, as well as by the national sections of the SCO Member States, defining the main areas and procedures governing the Business Council’s activities.

The SCO Business Council is a non-governmental body that brings together prominent representatives of the business communities of the SCO Member States through their respective national sections. The Council has a permanent Secretariat based in Moscow.

On 16 July 2025, the 26th Meeting of the Board of the SCO Business Council took place in Beijing in a hybrid format under the chairmanship of the Chinese side. The participants exchanged views on further strengthening the role of the business community within the SCO’s economic track, including the promotion of mutually beneficial projects in such areas as transport and logistics, energy, women’s and youth entrepreneurship, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

On 26 October 2005, during a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) in Moscow, the Agreement on Interbank Cooperation (Consortium) within the framework of the SCO was signed, establishing the SCO Interbank Consortium (SCO IBC).

The activities of the SCO IBC are aimed at facilitating the financing of joint investment projects, strengthening interbank cooperation, supporting infrastructure projects, and developing financial instruments to expand economic cooperation among Member States.

The primary objective of this mechanism is to provide financing and banking services for investment projects supported by the governments of the SCO Member States.

The supreme body of the Consortium is the SCO IBC Council.

On 5 June 2025, the 21st Meeting of the SCO IBC Council was held in Beijing under the chairmanship of the China Development Bank. A Joint Statement of Member Banks on the Occasion of the 20thAnniversary of the SCO IBC was signed in a stakeholder format. A decision was also made to grant Belarusbank Savings Bank the status of a member bank of the SCO IBC.

The Consortium operates in accordance with the Regulations approved by a decision of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) dated 2 November 2019.

The Consortium was established as a multilateral consultative and expert platform aimed at promoting trade and economic cooperation, fostering interaction between research institutions and economic think tanks, and conducting analysis on priority areas of economic cooperation within the SCO framework.

Meetings of the Consortium are held annually. The main outcome document is an analytical report prepared through joint research on a topical issue relevant to the SCO. To date, four such studies have been completed.

In 2025, four meetings of the Consortium were held under the Russian chairmanship. An analytical report titled “Priority Areas for Expanding Trade and Industrial Cooperation in the SCO Regionin the Context of the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by Member States” was prepared.

On 12 February 2026, a meeting of the SCO Consortium of Economic Analytical Centres was held via videoconference under the chairmanship of Tajikistan. Participants discussed priority areas of the Consortium’s work, topics for joint research, and expert events aimed at strengthening economic cooperation and connectivity in the year ahead.

By a decision of the SCO Heads of State Council in 2024, the SCO Investors Association was established and its Regulations approved. At its first meeting, held on 18 March 2025 in Astana, the Association adopted its Work Plan for 2025.