Belarus prime minister says trade with SCO hits $33 billion

November 1, BPN. Belarus’ trade with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries amounted to about $33 billion in the first eight months of 2022, a 12 percent increase year on year, Prime Minister Raman Hałoŭčanka has told the SCO Heads of Government Council.

He said that in January-August, trade with the SCO member states accounted for 70 percent of Belarus’ foreign trade. “The achieved figures are far from the limit,” the prime minister said. “We are interested in Belarus’ full participation in the SCO’s interbank association, in developing the banking business, currency exchange transactions with the association’s banks, and the SCO’s insurance sector.”

Hałoŭčanka said that Belarus produces enough food for domestic consumption and exports. It is ready to boost supplies of “high-quality” agricultural products and can offer “the entire segment of high-quality fertilizers to expand agricultural production in the organization’s member states.” Minsk also stands for “expanding e-commerce, stimulating the creation of national sections on the largest electronic platforms of the SCO countries and organizing the exchange of electronic documents,” he noted.

The prime minister said Belarus supports the organization’s efforts to promote peace and sustainable development. “Against the backdrop of attempts by individual blocs and states to drive a wedge between SCO countries, we consider it necessary to strengthen the organization’s coordination with the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union to ensure stability in the region, taking into account new challenges and threats.”

Hałoŭčanka also suggested expanding cooperation in the field of sports.

The SCO was established in 2001 and comprises eight Eurasian states: China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia. Belarus has an observer status. In July 2022, media reported that it applied for membership in the organization.

On September 23, Alaksandr Łukašenka said that Belarus expected to become an SCO member “within a year.”