SCO to discuss creation of its Development Bank in Beijing on December 21-22

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. The establishment of the Development Bank of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be discussed at a meeting of representatives of financial agencies in Beijing on December 21-22, SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov said on Tuesday. He was speaking at an enlarged meeting of the Academic Council of the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "Taking into account the fact that India and Pakistan have joined the SCO, we need to continue consultations and we will continue them. On December 21-22, in Beijing, for the first time the representatives of financial agencies will gather to discuss issues related to the development bank of the SCO and a special account for the project activities," Alimov said. "Let's see how this works, at least, motivation is there, we will wait for the results," he added. On December 1, in Sochi, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called for a sooner establishment of the Development Bank of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and SCO Special Account. He recalled that discussions on the SCO Bank, on the SCO Special Account had been conducted for the last ten years. "It's time to look at through the lens of agreements and not to beat the air. Everything depends on us," the head of the Russian government said. He recalled that although the SCO was initially planned as an organization that coordinates the policy on security issues, now it begins to pay attention to economic issues. The Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was singed in China’s Shanghai in June 2001 by six founding states - Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia currently enjoy observer status while Sri Lanka, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal are dialogue partners. Read more