Kazakhstan has officially endorsed China's initiative to establish a Development Bank for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev made the announcement at the SCO Heads of State Council meeting in Bishkek, as reported by infohub.kz.
Addressing his counterparts, the head of state stressed the need to build a full-fledged investment framework within the organization. Despite the fact that mutual trade among the "Shanghai Ten" is steadily approaching $1 trillion, the potential for economic connectivity remains underutilized.
The launch of a specialized financial institution would translate member states' agreements into concrete industrial and infrastructure projects.
"Kazakhstan supports China's initiative to create the SCO Development Bank. We believe it is advisable to channel the bank's resources primarily into infrastructure, technology, and industrial projects. And if there is consensus among member states, Kazakhstan could host this institution and its headquarters," he said.
In addition to launching the Development Bank, the President of Kazakhstan proposed introducing a mechanism for pilot industrial consortia. This format would allow countries to launch joint economic projects as they become ready, without waiting for all members to join, with successful initiatives later expanded.
Another important step to activate the future bank's operations would be the creation of cross-border trade zones based on existing border cooperation centers, which would allow testing simplified trade exchanges, digital procedures, and modern settlement mechanisms.