At the same time, he explained that Minsk sees in joining the SCO not only serious prospects for economic cooperation, but also for political and diplomatic cooperation. It is very important, Aleinik stressed, “to be involved in the processes of strengthening multipolarity from the position of the SCO. The same applies to the cultural and humanitarian dimension”.
The Minister recalled that cooperation with the SCO began 13 years ago, with the country’s interaction as a dialogue partner, and last year an official request was submitted for Belarus to join the international organization as an equal member.
“Many rounds of consultations with SCO member states have already taken place, a protocol for joining the SCO, which defines its mechanisms, has been signed, and a memorandum has been prepared,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs said. Foreign Affairs, adding that the republic adheres to “an accelerated membership format. There are technical issues, which we are regulating with SCO member states, and we expect to complete this process in 2023.”
Recalling that 70% of Belarusian trade turnover goes to the SCO countries, the Minister stressed that the official from Minsk has always been active in the SCO in all dimensions of the organization’s work: political and diplomatic, commercial and economic, cultural and humanitarian.
Aleinik made it clear that the Republic of Belarus expects to actively participate not only in trade, but also in industrial cooperation, especially since energy issues are now on the agenda of the SCO, options Alternative settlements are being formed, which is very important to overcome the illegal restrictive measures that are used by Western countries. There is a lot of work in the field of transport and the construction of transit and logistics chains,” the minister noted.
In turn, Zhang Ming told reporters that the contribution that the Belarusian side has made to the development of the organization over the years has been recognized by all its members and highly appreciated by them. This is also evidenced by the fact that after the Belarusian side officially applied to join the SCO, all members of the organization began procedural work, and already at the September 2022 summit in Samarkand it was been decided to launch the membership procedure.
It was an unprecedented quick decision, said Zhang Ming, who in his own words speaks of “mutual trust between SCO member states and the fact that they all greatly appreciate that the Belarusian side shares the values and principles of the SCO and for many years as an observer has played a very important role in the cooperation.”
