With the onset of 2025 the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) entered a new stage of its development – the People’s Republic of China took over the chairmanship and the Secretary General of the Organization changed. Nurlan Ermekbaev, who took over the post of the new SCO Secretary General on January 1 spoke in an interview with RIA Novosti about the SCO’s plans, how its work will develop in a variety of areas – from tourism and healthcare to responding to unilateral sanctions and optimizing settlement mechanisms within the Organization. Interview was performed by Lidiya Stanchenko.
– Nurlan Bayuzakovich, tell us about the Organization’s plans for this year, in what key areas will the SCO’s work advance? Share your expectations as the new Secretary General of the Organization.
– In 2025 the Shanghai Cooperation Organization enters a new stage of its development. In general, 2025 promises to be rich in important international events. Firstly the 80th anniversary of the Victory in World War II and the Great Patriotic War is one of such events. Second one is the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations.
For the SCO this year will be full of various events. After the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council, which took place in July 2024 in Astana and crowned the chairmanship of Kazakhstan in our Organization – very successful, eventful – the chairmanship of the organization passed to the PRC, which prepared a very meaningful plan and priorities for its work in advance. Now they are set out in three important comprehensive documents. One of them includes official events, called the Plan of Main Events of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for 2025. The second document is a calendar of events for the Chinese chairmanship. The third document which is currently under consideration is the Plan of events initiated by the SCO member states.
Thus, in general, more than 200 events of various natures are planned for 2025. Of these, about 70% are official events and about 30% are events initiated by the member states.
It is very symbolic and noteworthy that the People’s Republic of China has defined the following slogan as the motto of its presidency: “Promoting the “Shanghai Spirit”: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Action.” And a very interesting second point is that the theme of the upcoming year for the Chinese presidency is sustainable development.
These two questions are noteworthy: firstly the Shanghai Spirit embodies the basic principles on which all cooperation and development of our Organization is built. These are equality, mutual benefit, mutual trust, consultations, and respect for the diversity of cultures and civilizations, and the desire for common development. And the theme of the year – sustainable development – shows that the SCO has a comprehensive approach to issues of security, peace, and prosperity. In addition, the SCO agenda is in tune with the global agenda. In the SCO, we work in precisely those areas that are important and relevant for the entire world.
I would like to note that each country during its chairmanship has made a very important contribution to the overall development of the entire Organization. This applies to all the previous chairing states. And the crowning achievement of each state’s chairmanship is the meeting of the Council of Heads of State. At the upcoming meeting of the Council of Heads of State this year, during which the People’s Republic of China will complete its chairmanship, it is expected that a number of important decisions will be made in all areas of our cooperation.
I would like to highlight three key documents that are planned to be adopted at the upcoming meeting of the leaders of our countries. This is the Political Declaration. This is a document with the working title Statement on the 80th Anniversary of Victory in World War II and the adoption of the SCO Development Strategy until 2035 – a document that will lay down the main priorities, tasks and goals for the development of the organization for a decade.
In addition, in the SCO we always look ahead, and it has already become a tradition that at the beginning of a state’s chairmanship, preparations are already underway for the next chairing state. Therefore, preparations are already underway for the chairmanship of the Kyrgyz Republic in the next period.
Preparations are also underway for the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will be held this year in Russia – the Russian Federation currently holds the chairmanship of the Council of Heads of Government. Usually, such meetings discuss issues related to the real sector of the economy, cooperation in trade, investment and transport and so on.
In general, the work of the SCO in 2025 will be aimed at promoting peace, security and development in the SCO space. And my personal task as the Secretary General of the Organization, who has assumed this position, is to establish and strengthen, improve the efficiency of the SCO Secretariat as the main executive body, a kind of headquarters of the Organization, and to assist member states in achieving the goals and solving the tasks that they set for the Organization. We see our important task in ensuring that work within the SCO brings practical, tangible benefits to the peoples of our countries.
Considering that the heads of state declared 2025 the Year of Sustainable Development, our work will focus on deepening cooperation in the field of ecology, rational use of natural resources, introduction of clean technologies, increasing the share of the green economy. We will pay great attention to the fight against climate change. The development of the draft Agreement between the governments of the SCO member states on cooperation in the fight against climate change will continue. The member countries of our Organization will continue to fulfill their obligations under the Paris Agreement, and we will establish the activities of the Special Working Group on Climate Change.
Within the framework of the Chinese chairmanship, the SCO Forum on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development is planned to be held in May 2025. In general the issue of poverty reduction was initiated by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and is also of great relevance for the SCO member states and brings real practical benefits to the peoples of our countries.
In addition as part of the work on the sustainable development of the SCO, a number of events will be held in the field of food security. Interaction in the fields of digital economy, transport, industry, energy, and customs cooperation will also be intensified.
In the trade and economic sphere, the work will be aimed at implementing the documents that have already been adopted – the SCO Development Strategy until 2025, the Program for Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation and the SCO Economic Development Strategy.
The Chinese chairmanship proposed a number of initiatives in the cultural and humanitarian area – these are areas such as sports, culture, book publishing, tourism and cooperation with youth.
As I said all the SCO’s efforts are in line with the global agenda, and we plan, in accordance with the roadmap for developing interaction with dialogue partners, which was adopted at the Astana Summit in 2024, to intensify and fill our interaction with SCO partners with more practical content. We will also actively cooperate with the UN, its Secretariat, specialized agencies and other international regional partner organizations. Currently, a draft resolution of the UN General Assembly on the SCO Initiative On World Unity for a Just Peace, Harmony and Development is under development.
– In 2025 the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II will be celebrated. Are any events planned within the SCO in this regard?
– Of course the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory and the end of World War II is an important event for all 26 states that are part of the large SCO family. The date of May 9 remains a symbol of the courage and heroism of our ancestors, the peoples of our countries who defended freedom and peace. Their feat is worthy of admiration, and we will always cherish the bright memory of those who died at the front, worked in the rear and revived our countries in the post-war years. Almost all SCO member states acted as a united front as allies in World War II in the fight against fascism. And six out of 10 states fought on the fields of the Great Patriotic War as part of a single state. And the same can be said about Victory Day in the war in the Far East, which is celebrated in China on September 3.
As far as we are informed, large military parades are planned in 2025 in honor of this date – in Moscow, Beijing and not only in capitals, but also in other large cities of a number of SCO member states.
The Secretariat for its part is open to any proposals from member states to hold events dedicated to this date. We are also currently thinking about what kind of event could be held here at the Secretariat.
– Tell us about cooperation within the SCO in the field of tourism. Is it planned to create visa-free programs within the Organization? What volumes of tourist flows within the SCO were achieved in 2024, and what are your estimates for tourist flow in 2025?
– Cooperation in the tourism sector is a very important area of our work. All work is carried out within the framework of the Agreement between the governments of the SCO states on the development of cooperation in the field of tourism.
The heads of tourism administrations meet annually. Their previous meeting at the ministerial level was held in Almaty in May 2024. During this meeting, a Plan of joint actions in the field of tourism for 2024-2025 was adopted, and one of the points of this Plan is the study by the SCO member states of the possibility of liberalizing the visa regime. That is, for now we are not talking about introducing a visa-free regime for all SCO member states, but about its liberalization, since the provision of visa-free regimes is currently mainly on a bilateral basis. Agreements on visa-free travel are already in effect or have recently been entered into, or are planned, between a number of SCO states.
For example, on April 1, 2025, the Agreement between the Governments of Russia and India will come into force, according to which tourist groups on a bilateral basis will visit the two countries without a visa. In 2024, Iran abolished the visa regime for citizens of 28 countries, including a number of SCO states. There are and are valid agreements on visa-free travel between, for example, China and Kazakhstan. Recently, an agreement between Kazakhstan and the Macao Special Administrative Region [PRC] came into force; a visa-free regime was established between China and Uzbekistan, between China and Belarus.
It is noteworthy that in 2024, in general, the volume of tourist flows meaning foreign tourists increased in almost all SCO countries. For some it increased by 20% compared to the previous year. For others it increased up to 47%. This also indicates that cooperation is developing actively.
In general, in the sphere of tourism, one could note such initiatives of member states as the creation of a single electronic platform for tourism development, the organization of cross-border tourist routes and the regular holding of forums.
– How is the SCO’s work progressing in the sphere of optimizing settlement mechanisms between member countries? Is it possible to talk about the possibility of creating a single SCO currency?
– To solve the problem of organizing a system or mechanism of payments between the SCO member states, an expert group has been formed; there is a corresponding Roadmap for increasing the share of national currencies in mutual settlements of the SCO member states. This Roadmap was approved at the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council in Samarkand in 2022.
The expert group analyzes all the pros, cons, and possible risks associated with the liberalization of currency legislation, with the impact of tariff and non-tariff barriers on settlements in national currencies. On this basis, specific proposals are being prepared.
First of all, the task is to form a legal basis for settlements in national currencies under investment contracts, for direct conversion, on the mechanisms of this conversion, and to develop measures that would stimulate states to use national currencies in settlements. That is, now work is more on creating a regulatory framework.
Currently our payment systems are strongly integrated into the global payment system, linked to certain currencies. In general, there is an understanding of the need to increase the share of national currencies; experts have also made proposals to create the SCO’s own currency or some kind of unit of account, but this work is still at the discussion stage.
– In October 2024 following the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO countries, a statement was adopted, which, in particular, noted that the heads of government of the SCO countries oppose unilateral sanctions and restrictions that have a negative impact on third countries and international economic relations. What measures is the Organization taking to counter these restrictions and negative impacts?
– Indeed a number of SCO member states are experiencing a negative impact of unilateral sanctions and restrictions. Therefore, within the SCO, member states are currently working, firstly, to develop settlement and payment mechanisms for settlements in national currencies, to improve the infrastructure of these settlements. Also, the creation of mechanisms for financial support for project activities is associated with minimizing the impact of these sanctions.
At the Organization’s summit in July 2024, the heads of state decided on mechanisms for financial support for SCO project activities. The essence of this decision was to continue consultations on the creation of such a mechanism. Consultations are currently underway, various options are being considered. This includes the option of an Investment Fund, the option of a Development Bank, and a Development Fund. This work is still ongoing.
Also in October 2024, at the initiative of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Concept for the Development of a New Economic Dialogue between the SCO States was adopted. This Concept was adopted at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government, and is aimed precisely at creating additional platforms for sustainable ties between business circles so that these ties are not limited and negatively affected by sanctions and restrictions.
– The expansion of the SCO has recently often given rise to discussions about whether this Eurasian security bloc can become a counterweight to Western alliance such as NATO. What do you think about this? Is it generally correct to compare the SCO with NATO?
– Firstly, it is difficult and probably incorrect to compare NATO and the SCO, since they differ greatly in their goals and objectives, as well as in the nature of their activities. NATO was created as an element of confrontation between the post-war West on the one hand and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other hand. It is a military-political organization, and its analogue from the side of, let’s say, the socialist bloc, was the Warsaw Pact.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is not a product of the Cold War, it was not created under conditions or for the purpose of confrontation with anyone. On the contrary, in 2001, when the SCO was created as an organization, it was created precisely with constructive, peaceful goals.
Secondly, NATO is a military-political organization. The SCO is a peaceful interstate organization. The fundamental principle of NATO is the principle of collective security. That is, aggression against one member state is considered as aggression against all and against each member state. In the SCO, such a principle of collective security does not exist.
In addition geographically NATO is a transcontinental organization, and the SCO currently unites Eurasian states as member states, states of the same continent, Eurasia. That is, it is essentially a Eurasian organization.
SCO member states are closely connected with each other by historical, cultural, and even mental ties, they have a lot in common.
Therefore these organizations are different. One of the most priority areas of the SCO is ensuring security. But the SCO approaches this issue comprehensively, proceeding from the fact that it is impossible to ensure security without comprehensively addressing the issues of socio-economic development, the fight against poverty, raising the level of literacy, and education.
That is why the SCO deals with a very broad range of issues, and not just the fight against terrorism and extremism. It was precisely to fight these “three evil forces”, as they are called – extremism, terrorism and separatism – that the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was created in 2002 with its headquarters – the Executive Committee in Tashkent. It mainly coordinates the activities of special and law enforcement agencies. This mechanism for countering modern challenges and threats to security is currently being improved. There are already agreements on the creation of additional new specialized centers to counter various challenges.
Indeed the SCO conducts joint border operations and anti-terrorist exercises. Military exercises are also conducted, but they are exclusively anti-terrorist in nature.
The SCO is a responsible participant in international efforts to ensure peace and development. It adheres the principle of non-direction against anyone, against other states, the principle of openness. It operates on the basis of international law, including the UN Charter and the SCO Charter.
We adhere to the principles of the Shanghai spirit. We emphasize the non-bloc, non-ideological nature of our work. That is, for creative, peaceful work and cooperation.
As for the expansion of the SCO, this is not an end in itself of the Organization, it is a natural process. Interest in the SCO is growing on the part of other states, they are making proposals either to join the work as partners, or to upgrade the status from partners to observers.
Currently a lot of work is being done within the SCO to improve activities, the issue of possible categories of our partners, observers is being considered. We hope that this process will be more effective and orderly.
– Tensions continue to grow in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States and other countries, including in the region, are taking provocative actions and increasing their military presence. How do you think the situation in the region will develop next year? Will tensions grow and what actions does the SCO plan to take to ease these tensions?
– Of course in today’s conditions it is difficult to predict the development of the global situation, but we see that on the Eurasian continent, in general in this part of the world, there are indeed alarming trends that have exposed failures in the Euro-Atlantic security model in the form in which it was created. We see the flaring up of smoldering conflicts, and we see the emergence of new ones. Currently we observe what is happening in the Middle East there are alarming trends in the Asia-Pacific region and the phenomena of some kind of bloc confrontation, the creation of bloc organizations. All this leads to the need to revise the entire system and principles of ensuring security, at least in the Eurasian space.
Therefore, the SCO member states have taken a close look at the initiative of the Belarusian side in the field of Eurasian security. This topic was discussed at the Minsk Security Conference held in Minsk on October 31, 2024. All member states are currently studying this initiative.
But in general I would like to note that back in the Tashkent Declaration of the 2016 SCO summit, member states emphasized that they would deepen the dialogue, interaction with international regional organizations with which they have official relations, and encourage external contacts with the aim of further forming such a partnership network of multilateral associations.
During the meeting of the Council of Heads of State in Astana in 2024, the heads of state emphasized in their declaration that interaction in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization could become the basis for forming an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia. That is, now more and more countries are approaching the fact that it is necessary to somehow take a new look and form approaches to ensuring security in Eurasia.
– In December 2024 exactly five years have passed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world is still experiencing its consequences. How will work progress in the field of healthcare, the creation of risk management mechanisms in this area, and increasing resilience to future outbreaks of epidemics within the SCO?
– Partly due to the very intensive growth of the world economy, due to human intervention in the natural development of nature, of course, the risks of various kinds of infectious diseases, the risks of epidemics do not disappear, and humanity is not insured against mass infectious diseases. There are many reasons for this. Therefore, in the SCO, in accordance with these risks and threats, appropriate measures are being taken, which are increasing, one might say.
For example in 2011 the SCO Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Healthcare was signed. Already in 2013, the Program for Informing about the Epidemiological Situation Caused by Infectious Diseases was adopted. In 2020, the Comprehensive Plan for Joint Measures to Counteract Epidemic Threats in the SCO Space was already adopted, that is, just when the COVID-19 pandemic arose, a comprehensive plan to counteract epidemic threats was already adopted. In 2022, the Roadmap for Cooperation between Medical Organizations for the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases was adopted. All these measures are precisely caused by the growth of these risks, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, by the desire to ensure the health of our population.
In December 2024 a meeting of the heads of sanitary services was held in St. Petersburg. All parties confirmed that ensuring sanitary and epidemiological well-being is a priority.
Of course in all these efforts, the SCO provides a coordinating role to the World Health Organization. In 2025, Member States are committed to maintaining a dialogue between sanitary services and exchanging information. At the initiative of the Russian Federation, the possibility of signing an Agreement on cooperation in combating plague is currently being considered.
– The SCO ranks were replenished with new members in 2024. Will the Organization continue to expand in 2025? Who is currently the main contender for accession? I would like to ask separately about Turkey – what is the likelihood that the country will become a full member of the Organization; will its NATO member status prevent it?
– The SCO expansion process is ongoing, over the past seven years the number of SCO member states has almost doubled. That is, if in 2017 there were six member states, subsequently there were eight; in 2023, Iran joined as a member state. In 2024, Belarus became a full member state of the SCO, that is, the number of member states increased to 10. But, again, this is not an end in itself for our Organization.
The number of dialogue partners has increased. In general, interest in raising one’s status in the Organization or joining the SCO is growing.
As for specific states or regions, I can note that countries of the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and even North Africa are now actively participating. The SCO is open to all states. Now, as part of improving activities in general, member states are thinking about how to make the number of categories and partnerships with other states more productive and effective.
At the global level the SCO member states always demonstrate solidarity, adherence to international law, and therefore the expansion of both the organization’s membership and its partners is carried out in accordance with certain criteria and conditions, based on consensus.
For example six applications for observer status in the SCO and eight applications for dialogue partner status are currently under consideration. Some of these applications are being actively processed at the insistence of the applicant states themselves, while others are still under consideration.
As for Turkey, Turkey is one of the SCO dialogue partners. Since 2013, when the relevant Memorandum was signed, Turkish representatives have been actively participating in events held by the SCO. Indeed, such wishes to join the SCO as a member state were previously verbally expressed, but no official application has been received yet. If one is received, the member states will consider it.