Pakistan has one expectation from Taliban, no use of Afghan soil for terrorism
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday encouraged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to use national currencies for “mutual settlement” and establish other financial mechanisms to “offset international financial shocks”.
He made the remarks while addressing the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe, where he arrived a day earlier.
Dar highlighted the “need to accelerate efforts to promote the use of national currencies for mutual settlement”, as well as to establish the SCO Development Bank, SCO Development Fund and SCO Investment Fund.
“Such tools are measures which will advance development initiatives and help the SCO region to offset international financial shocks,” the former finance minister noted.
Dar reiterated his call to accelerate local currency settlements in a later address to an expanded-format session of the meeting.
Speaking in Dushanbe, Dar highlighted that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor offered “every SCO partner a compelling opportunity to participate in and accelerate our shared journey towards comprehensive economic integration”.
“For our region to achieve seamless economic integration, targeted investment in core sectors, most notably in energy and transport, is vital,” he stressed.
He said Pakistan strongly advocated for “expanding investments into high-potential industries, including agriculture, mining and minerals, and information technology, to build a resilient and interconnected economic future”.
He expressed Pakistan’s “belief that artificial intelligence, digital transformation, innovation, energy cooperation and international information security should become important pillars of future cooperation within the SCO”.