Constructive cooperation coupled with trust and transparency is key to tapping the trade potential of SCO Member States: Smt. Anupriya Patel

SCO members must prepare and pursue an agenda that is equitable, inclusive and development-oriented: Smt. Anupriya Patel

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel said that constructive cooperation coupled with trust and transparency is key to tapping the trade potential of SCO Member States. She was making an intervention at the 21st Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministers responsible for Foreign Economy and Foreign Trade. The Minister mentioned the opportunities available in the SCO region for mutually beneficial, balanced and equitable gains for all SCO Members. She stressed the need for effective cooperation between the SCO Member States for balanced and equitable growth in trade and commerce.

She underscored the importance of collective efforts to achieve balanced and equitable economic growth by way of making trade an engine of reviving growth and the driver of economic recovery.  She emphasised that trust and transparency determine the sustainability of global trade and preserve the fundamental principles and objectives of the multilateral trading system.

She stressed the need to work towards enhancing affordable access to medicines, therapeutics, and vaccines as well as health care at affordable prices for fighting any pandemic, such as Covid-19 to preserve the life, livelihood, food and nutritional security of the poorest.

To bring prosperity to humankind, MOS emphasised the need to share the best practices on technological development, optimum utilization of resources, conservation of the environment, and sustainable distribution of resources so that present and future generations have adequate resources to live with, in a happy environment. On the issue of the environment, MOS expressed that the climate agenda at the world forum should not be used to introduce measures restricting trade and investment cooperation.

MoS also highlighted that there is a significant gap in digital technologies between developed and developing countries which need to be narrowed down by building digital capacities.

She lauded the recent initiative of SCO, wherein the City of Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital for the period of 2022-2023. She expressed hope that this will help promote tourism and people-to-people interaction and boost trade and economic cooperation.

In her concluding remarks, MOS emphasized that SCO members must prepare, act and pursue an agenda that is equitable, inclusive and development-oriented.

The virtual meeting was attended by the representative of the SCO Secretariat and Heads of Delegations of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Disclaimer : This is an official press release by PIB.