Interview: China locomotive of SCO economic cooperation -- Kyrgyz SCO official

China is a locomotive of economic cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Kyrgyz official said in an interview with Xinhua Tuesday.

China enjoys a very good economic relationship with each SCO member on a bilateral level, said Irina Orolbaeva, a Kyrgyz SCO coordinator and special envoy for SCO affairs at Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"There are a lot of projects being implemented with the support of the Chinese government, not only in Kyrgyzstan, but also in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan," said Orolbaeva.

"And as a full member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Kyrgyzstan is doing its part to promote the alignment of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and the EEU," she said.

Orolbaeva believed the Chinese economic firewalls indeed support the regional economy against risks. "We have received investment and help from China. And we have a very good initiative to form a financial mechanism to support SCO project activity to form an SCO bank within the framework of the organization."

The Kyrgyz official hoped that the initiative of creating a free economic zone and liberal trade regime within the SCO will be discussed too.

Orolbaeva said that SCO members welcomed the initiative and its integration within the EEU, adding that these demonstrate real capacity cooperation.

"The topic of the alignment of EEU projects and the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative was discussed actively during the Ufa Summit last year. And during the past year this topic has been discussed on various platforms," she said.

"The last meeting of the Council of Heads of government took place in Zhengzhou in December last year. The Chinese side proposed to develop projects and capacities of ongoing industrial projects, and to move some projects to the territory of some SCO countries," she said, adding that more than 30 projects will be moved to Kyrgyzstan.

Orolbaeva said that the SCO has big prospects, because SCO cooperation covers security, economic cooperation and the humanitarian area, or in general all international issues, and is attracting a growing number of members.

During the Tashkent summit, Memoranda of Obligations by the Indian and Pakistani sides for obtaining SCO member status are expected to be signed, which Orolbaeva said are one of the important steps for India and Pakistan to join the organization as full members.

"The fact that such important countries in the region like India and Pakistan want to be full members of the SCO testifies that the SCO's power is growing and during the 15 years of its existence, it became powerful and an instrument for solving many problems," said Orolbaeva.

"Certainly, we are accepting two big countries and there is a risk, and not only is the geographical region that the SCO covers increasing, but also its political issues. We adhere and try to adhere to the guideline that bilateral discords between two countries will not be submitted to the SCO platform. We should work jointly taking into account security issues," she said.

Orolbaeva believed that SCO memberships of these two countries can give an impetus to the organization to find and develop ways to address challenges, as India and Pakistan address these issues on a global level.

Talking about security cooperation, Orolbaeva noted that heads of state always pay attention to crises that happen in the world. Certainly at the Tashkent Summit they will touch upon the Syrian crisis, Ukraine and Afghanistan, and ponder a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Asia.

"The security threat in the region makes us think how to use the mechanism better," she said, adding that a regional anti-terrorist network is already in place to share information for fighting the "three evil forces -- extremism, terrorism and separatism."

Concerning the achievements of the SCO in the past 15 years since the organization was founded, Orolbaeva said that a very close relationship has been established between ministries and departments of SCO countries.

"There is a program between the ministries of emergency situations, ministries of internal affairs, national security departments, ministries of culture and business councils, and there is a good relationship in the defense sphere," she said, adding that this is all due to the political will of the SCO member countries' leaders.

"During the past 15 years, SCO member states have also learned the principle of making decisions and reaching consensus; in the SCO, all members, regardless of their political weight and economic condition, are equal," she said. Endi