SCO, EAEU countries to announce economic continental partnership agreement - Russia’s economic development ministry

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The member-countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are preparing an agreement on economic continental partnership, Russia’s First Deputy Economic Development Minister Aleksey Likhachev said at the first ever Sino-Russia construction forum on Wednesday. "In December 2015, our partners from Kazakhstan announced an idea to create an SCO free trade zone. Not only did we accept (the idea) together with the Chinese delegation, we transformed it into the following - we’ll be actually preparing background for a certain economic continental partnership, for a universal agreement within SCO," he said. According to Likhachev, the agreement stipulates three big aspects - "freedom of goods flow, trade turnover promotion, issues related to free capital and investment flows, comfortable environment for enhancing share of payments in national currencies, and of course preferential access to our services and construction markets." Currently, SCO comprises China and Russia as well as Central Asian countries, deputy minister said, adding though that "(SCO - TASS) engages Armenia and Belarus, which are EAEU member-countries, into this work on the one hand, and India and Pakistan, which have started a tough but I think potentially a successful way to joining the Shanghai Organization, on the other hand." "Around half of the world’s population may potentially participate in this ambitious agreement," Likhachev added. The agreement will be prepared both within the framework of the Eurasian Union and within bilateral contacts between Russia and China, he said. "I think the meeting of heads of the SCO countries will put the lid on the matter" to create probably the most ambitious trade agreement in the world, Likhachev added. Later he also said the SCO economic ministers are expected to offer "a road map" to prepare the agreement by the next meeting of heads of governments. The next meeting of the SCO ministers of economy is planned for March 17 in Moscow. Read more