Shanghai Cooperation Organization to set up international project financing center - Putin

UFA, July 10. /TASS/. Member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) intend to establish an international project financing center based on the SCO’s interbank association, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. A priority task for the SCO is to improve financial cooperation among its member countries, Putin said at an enlarged session of the Council of the SCO Heads of State. "We’re taking part in the work to create the SCO Development Bank and the SCO special account," the Russian president said. "The idea of establishing the International Center for Project Financing on the basis of the SCO interbank association also looks promising," Putin said. The SCO member states should also use more actively the possibilities of the financial institutions already existing in the region, like the Eurasian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, which the BRICS group of the world’s five major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is establishing, Putin said. Shanghai Cooperation Organization The SCO creation was proclaimed on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. At present five countries (Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan) have observer-nation status, and three more countries (Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka), dialogue partner status. The SCO member states occupy a territory of around 30 million 189 thousand square kilometers, which makes up three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, and have a population of 1.5 billion, which makes up a quarter of the planet's population. India and Pakistan officially applied for full SCO membership in September 2014. Iran also seeks full membership in the organization. The SCO has established relations with the United Nations, where it is an observer at the General Assembly, with the European Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Read more