An Advancing Alliance

An Advancing Alliance

The SCO’s newest secretary general faces important security and economic issues

Muratbek Sansyzbayevich Imanaliev

Last month, Muratbek Sansyzbayevich Imanaliev of Kyrgyzstan became the third Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional organization formally established in 2001 grouping China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Imanaliev held his first press briefing at the Beijing News Center of Russia’s RIA Novosti News Agency on February 3. Over the course of his upcoming three-year term, Imanaliev pledged an emphasis on regional security, the strengthening of economic cooperation between member nations and continual enhancement of the SCO’s international infuence.

The main points from the press conference follow:

What are your objectives and main tasks during your term of offce and how do you plan to achieve them?

The overall objective of the SCO has been presented in our political documents, but I want to emphasize what was discussed at the Yekaterinburg summit and culminated in the ratifcation of the Yekaterinburg Declaration last year. In this, the leaders of the member countries clarified the major tasks of the SCO. Over the next three years, I will do my best to implement the goals outlined within this consensus.

As the SCO secretary general, the most urgent task will be to strengthen the solidarity within the organization and adjust the personnel team. This, in turn, will lay a sound foundation for future work. Indeed, every international organization has its own speed and process of development. In the next phase, we will keep improving the organization and adding new vitality.

My frst task lies in security—more specifcally, a resolution to address the hostilities and danger that proliferate in Afghanistan.

My second task will be to strengthen the economic cooperation within the SCO itself. What’s more, I will be committed to developing the SCO’s cooperation with other international organizations. Indeed, an urgent priority is to continue to consolidate contacts and cooperation with the UN.

Another task will be to strengthen the functions of the SCO Secretariat in Beijing. My predecessor, Bolat Nurgaliev, made great progress in improving the internal mechanisms of the SCO. I will continue to complement these efforts.

What measures will the SCO take to strengthen economic cooperation? Also, terrorist threats still exist in the region, as evidenced by the riots in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last July. How will the SCO deal with terrorism more effectively?

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has recently put forward an initiative calling for all SCO member countries to work together to emerge from the shadows of the global fnancial crisis. Indeed, it is an initiative enthusiastically supported by all member countries.

Intensification of economic and financial interaction within the framework of the SCO is, of course, part of this initiative. Meanwhile, the organization will also strengthen coordination with other international organizations.

In this regard, the SCO Secretariat will further assist member countries in terms of developing their national economies while promoting the implementation of joint projects in the felds of transportation, communications, and trade, among others.

As for the unrest in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, we issued a statement immediately afterward in support of the Chinese Government. In order to deal with terrorist threats in the region, we need to strengthen antiterrorist cooperation, especially within the framework of the Regional Antiterrorism Structure—a permanent SCO entity based in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, which serves to promote cooperation between member states in the face of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.

Now that the Central Asian natural gas pipeline has opened and is operating smoothly, how do you view the importance of energy cooperation within the framework of the SCO?

THE TIES THAT BIND: Finance ministers and central bank governors of SCO member countries hold talks in Almaty, capital of Kazakhstan, on December 9, 2009

Members have paid full attention to energy cooperation within the SCO framework. We have reached and implemented many agreements in this regard. I would like to emphasize that energy cooperation hasnot only pooled the talents of government authorities and companies of SCO member countries, but also attracted SCO observer countries to participate as well.

FIGHTING FOR LIFE: Chinese rescuers enact an evacuation during an emergency exercise staged by response teams from SCO member states in Noginsk, Russia, on May 22, 2009

In October last year, for instance, we held the eighth SCO prime ministers’ meeting in Beijing. During the meeting, Putin proposed the establishment of an SCO energy club. He held that it would greatly advance energy cooperation between the member states.

Currently, the SCO Entrepreneurs’Committee is formulating plans and bringing forward ideas on the club. As I see it, its establishment should serve multiple functions—not limited to information collection and analysis as well as economic and trade functions.

Recently, the security situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated. Does the SCO have any intention to cooperate with the United States and its NATO allies in combating terrorism in these countries?

The SCO has established a liaison group to work with Afghanistan. By all accounts, the group is operating effectively. All SCO member countries have been actively engaged in antiterrorist cooperation from the very beginning, and this effort is no exception. Meanwhile, we are also seeking to join other broad international coalitions against terrorism.

Every member country has been making signifcant contributions to improving the security situation in Afghanistan through both economic cooperation and cultural support. Within the last three years, China and Russia have trained 118 professional antiterrorist personnel to help address the Afghan issue. All these are done in the interest of peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Furthermore, as secretary general, I would like to express support for the joint communiqué delivered at the International Conference on Afghanistan, which was held in London in January 2010. All foreign ministers of SCO member countries were in attendance.

Prior to the London conference, the SCO held a vice foreign ministers’ conference on the Afghanistan in Moscow. Vice foreign ministers from SCO member countries coordinated their positions on Afghanistan at the conference. Their common position was later refected in the joint communiqué of the London conference.

We are also keenly prepared to participate in the Kabul conference on Afghanistan, to be held later this year. We will also offer new proposals with which to help Afghanistan achieve peace and stability.

Against the backdrop of the economic crisis, has the annual budget of the SCO been reduced? How many staff members does it have now?

It was agreed last year that budget of the SCO Secretariat and the Regional Antiterrorism Structure would be increased. We do not have any budget reduction plan at the moment. The SCO adopts a membership due system, under which all members pay their dues according to their own fnancial capacity.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is considering the membership applications of Iran and Pakistan

We have no intention to reduce the personnel of the SCO Secretariat or the Regional Antiterrorism Structure. Instead, we want to gradually increase the staff to enhance our working ability.

Currently, we have 30 staff members in the SCO Secretariat sent by the six member nations. They are divided into different departments based on their duties, not unlike other international organizations.

Will you consider admitting new countries to expand the SCO during your term of offce? How will you seek to boost the profle of the SCO in the international arena?

Enlargement of the SCO membership is an important task for us both currently and in the long term. The SCO has set up an experts’ panel to formulate principles and criteria with which to absorb new members.

Among these principles, the accession of new members must be conducive to the consolidation and unity of the entire organization. Currently, the SCO is actively studying the applications of Iran and Pakistan.

Against the backdrop of globalization, the SCO is not only a regional organization but also has secured an increasingly important role in the international arena. Many international organizations are showing interest in our activities.

Not long ago, I participated in a conference of regional international organizations held by the UN Secretariat. At the conference, we communicated with representatives of other organizations such as NATO. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, for one, said he had particularly great expectations for us, adding that the SCO has played a critical role in resolving a number of major regional issues.