Transport Partnership between EAEU and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Increasing intra-bloc ties improving Eurasian connectivity
On November 1 in Tashkent, Arzybek Kozhoshev, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the Eurasian Economic Union Commission took part in the first transport forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The EAEU Minister spoke about the features of the implementation of transport policy in the Eurasian Economic Union, outlining key achievements and opportunities, as well as prospects for interaction between the EAEU and the SCO
Kozhoshev said that “In the context of cooperation between the EAEU and the SCO, there is great potential for closer and more effective interaction, which will allow us to gradually form a seamless transport space within Greater Eurasia on an open, fair basis, taking into account the principles of sovereignty and respect for national interests.”
The Minister emphasised that the formation of an environment of mutually beneficial partnership between the SCO and the EAEU will significantly increase the efficiency of the transport complexes of the countries of these integration associations and will contribute to the harmonisation of legal regulation. This will also help determine measures to collectively build new cooperative ties with the countries of the region, infrastructure development, the formation of new logistics routes and supply chains for goods that provide resource flows for economic development.
On the sidelines of the Forum, a working meeting was held between Arzybek Kozhoshev and SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan, at which prospects for the development of cooperation in Eurasian transport were discussed. It was suggested that joint ministerial meetings of the SCO and EAEU countries will be held in the future.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis of Dezan Shira & Associates comments “The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a Free Trade Bloc that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. It fills a geographic space between Western China and Eastern Europe. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an alliance of India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia together with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka having observer and dialogue partner status. The SCO operates both as a security, cooperation and trade mechanism. Merging the two into a working relationship makes great economic sense when discussing the transport connectivity issues within Eurasia as a whole.”
The Forum was also attended by transport ministers of the SCO member states, heads of research institutions and international organisations such as TIR.
Source: The Eurasian Economic Commission
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