Central Asian Leaders Propose Economic Integration and Vision at SCO Summit

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, leaders including Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed creating a minimal-barrier trade space and a long-term economic integration vision.

Key points

• Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed an SCO Industrial Cooperation Map to connect special economic zones and logistics via a digital platform.
• Leaders discussed the practical launch of an SCO Development Bank to help finance transportation, energy, and digital infrastructure projects.
• Uzbekistan also suggested a partnership with global artificial intelligence cooperation bodies and an open multilingual SCO data corpus.
• The summit concluded in Bishkek with the adoption of the Bishkek Declaration marking the 25th anniversary of the organization alongside 28 documents.

Why it matters

These economic and infrastructure proposals aim to shift the Shanghai Cooperation Organization toward deeper cross-border integration, digital connectivity, and joint investment projects among member states.