On July 15, Tashkent hosted two events of particular importance for the Central Asian states: the meeting of industry ministers of the SCO Member States and the meeting of the Council on Industrial Safety of the CIS Member States. These meetings focused on implementing joint investment projects, promoting technical partnerships and fostering international cooperation among state-run industrial enterprises.
The talks aimed at signing long-term agreements to build up multifaceted cooperation. It is too early to assess the outcomes of the meeting of industry ministers, but at least their prospects can be assessed, a political scientist Igor Dubovsky told the editorial staff of CentralAsia.news.
The real value
At first glance, the official reports on the meetings of industry ministers from the Central Asian states look laconic and not very informative. Nevertheless, these talks are of great significance, and their outcomes can be regarded as elements of the implementation of the regional strategy for bringing the SCO Member States closer together.
“Cooperation among the SCO and CIS Member States, built in line with the concept like that, for example, developed and built among the republics of the USSR will enable each participant to improve economic stability, increase the technological and scientific level and preserve the population on their territories by improving the quality of life and reducing the drivers of migration. In my opinion, one of the aims of cooperation should be to make the utmost use of the potential of each state in overall cooperation of the unions,” Dubovsky says.
The analyst emphasises that by promoting relations, the SCO and the CIS will be able to maintain sovereignty and uphold national interests, without becoming dependent on the West.
However, the existing potential of the SCO and the CIS as international organisations has not yet been operated at full capacity, while Moscow and Washington offer completely different models for relationships.
“I believe that the SCO and the CIS are at the beginning of their journey and development. The potential of the states participating in these unions is huge, both in human resources and other resources – scientific, technological, natural and food. Given the fair distribution of the burdens on national economies and their inclusion in correctly built logistics and industrial ties and cooperation, the unions can reach a level of development that they have ever attained before. Indeed, the model of globalization, which is now proposed by Russia, implies equal rights and equal participation. The Western model is solely colonial dependence of the participants on the mother country,” the expert shares his opinion.
The states with the potential
Dubovsky notes that cooperation with such economic “giants” as India and China that have surpassed the EU countries in the pace of economic development can bring great benefits to the Central Asian countries.
“Today India and China possess the significant technical and production potential and financial resources. For example, the use of the potential of two large economies is promising for the Central Asian states. Especially if the Central Asian republics are built into intersectoral cooperation between major players and unions.”
In this regard, Igor Dubovsky believes that the Central Asian states will need to maintain a balance in this cooperation, since the dominance of large world players may not always be beneficial for small economies.
