The 17th meeting of the Council of the Interbank Consortium of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization took place on Sept 16. Heads of its member banks and partner banks attended the meeting on site or by video.

One of the key agendas at the meeting was the signing of the medium-term development strategy of the SCO Interbank Consortium (2022-2026), which defined the premier works in fields such as financial cooperation, mutual communication and institutional optimization within the organization's blueprint for the next five years.

The attendees recognized the significant role played by the SCO in propelling regional economic development since its establishment 20 years ago.

Zhao Huan, chairman of China Development Bank attended the event online, delivering the wish to drive investment and financing cooperation among members and the pursuit of sustainable development in the SCO regions.

Zhao said more attention should be paid to cooperation in areas such as infrastructure construction, advanced manufacturing, modern logistics, business park construction, modern agriculture, medicine and health and cutting-edging technology.

He added that members should attach more importance to the green and low-carbon projects, actively support green and sustainable development mode, cultivating new driving forces in the new energy and industrial structure.

Echoing with the requirement of SCO countries to cope with climate change, the members should carry the responsibility to help realize an energy-saving and environmentally friendly mode, contributing to a more low-carbon and resilient economy.

The integration of digital technology and economic and social development should be more emphasized. Through supporting the application of new generation information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence in the real economy, the upgrade of traditional manufacturing industry will embrace a new development, according to Zhao.

A more human-oriented financial service should be encouraged, he said. The service should cover anti-epidemic cooperation, financial support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote employment, in a bid to improve the coverage and accessibility of financial services among the members.

All members should pay more attention to a more open and inclusive cooperative mode and reach out for broader partnerships with multinational organizations in the other regions, according to the chairman.

The Interbank Consortium, which falls under the umbrella of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, was established in Oct 2005 under the guidance of the "Shanghai spirit".

Its members are comprised of eight banks from SCO countries such as China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and India and it has established partnerships with two banks from Belarus and Mongolia.

As one of the member banks of the consortium, China Development Bank has established long-form cooperative relations with the other member banks and partner banks.

By the end of June 2021, there were 59 cooperation projects proceeding between China Development Bank and SCO Interbank Consortium member banks and partner banks. China Development Bank provided the total loan worth $10.7 billion and 18.1 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in the projects.

In 2018, China Development Bank established a special loan totaling 30 billion yuan to support the cooperation of member banks and partner banks in key areas such as infrastructure construction, industrial cooperation, finance, small and medium-sized enterprises development and people's livelihood.