DUSHANBE, 23.06.2021 (NIAT Khovar) – Tajikistan has increased the share of foreign trade with the states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to 61%, while the country’s largest trading partners are Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This was noted by the Minister of Economic Development and Trade Zavki Zavkizoda at the SCO Economic Forum, which was held today in Dushanbe at the ministerial level on the topic “Strengthening Cooperation in the Digital Economy, E-Commerce and Innovation.”

The forum was attended by ministers and representatives of the SCO member states and observers like Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Iran and representatives of the private sector.

In his speech Zavkizoda emphasized that in recent years the SCO region has made significant strides in the development of the digital economy, e-commerce and innovation, but there are still many untapped opportunities in these areas.

In this regard, he recommended the development of an Action Plan to increase the share of the digital economy, the implementation of joint projects of technoparks and digital technologies with the assistance of the SCO Interbank Association, including in free economic zones, the training of highly qualified specialists in the field of information technology and infrastructure development, the simplification of trade procedures in the SCO space.

It was reported that e-commerce accounts for about 20% of world trade, according to industry experts, it will increase to 25% by 2025.

The forum was also addressed by the Russian Minister of Economic Development M. Reshetnikov, Kazakh Minister of Trade and Integration B. Sultanov, Afghan Minister of Economy H. Karima, Uzbek Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade O. Rustamov, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy A. Elnur and the leaders of other delegations, who expressed their views on expanding interaction in the field of the digital economy, e-commerce and innovation.

They also expressed their readiness to strengthen trade and economic relations as soon as possible within the framework of SCO.

Following the forum, the participants adopted the Dushanbe Declaration in order to strengthen further cooperation in these areas within the framework of the SCO as soon as possible.