SCO Tashkent summit to focus on security, economic coordination
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Economy: different paths
In economical areas, the SCO still has much to discuss during the summit and much to do in the post-crisis times, Moiseev said.
"For example, to develop transport corridors in the region. The SCO is an integral link between Central Asia and Europe. SCO space will host the highway linking Western Europe and China," he said. "The UN and the Asian Development Bank recognized the SCO role in this project. Every country builds its section of the highway separately, and the SCO works with communications, pace of building, border issues, types of cargo delivered."
Trade and economic cooperation among SCO members has seen rapid development since the establishment of the bloc. However, experts also warn that the economic weight and developing paths are quite different among SCO members.
"On the one hand, people expect some really breathtaking prospectives of the SCO as an economic alliance. On the other hand, the fact is that economic weights of SCO members are too different," Kobrinskaya said.
"So the six members still need time to try to find common grounds in economic sphere. I don't expect there will be some real breakthrough in Tashkent summit."
Alexander Lukin, director for the Center for East Asia and SCO Studies at Moscow State University for International Relations, echoed the point.
"The SCO's development bank of foundation has still been on paper only. Now the member states consider creation of a special account for the multipartite projects. Until then, these projects will remain stranded," he said.
Possible expansion
Another possible topic for the Tashkent summit would be the admission order for new members, "the first time in the organization's history," Moiseev said.
The bloc, started in 1996 as a "Shanghai group of five" including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for trans-border cooperation, was joined by Uzbekistan in June 2001. After that, the organization was renamed to Shanghai Cooperation Organization and embraced nearly a quarter of the world's population.
Several countries, including Mongolia, Pakistan, Iran, India, participate in SCO work in an observer's capacity.
Interest in working with the SCO has been growing in the world, from the European Union to the United States, Lukin told Xinhua.
"If the principles will be agreed, the issue of expansion could be mentioned. Iran and Pakistan, currently observers, applied to join," he said. "Besides, at the previous summit, new partners for dialogue had been introduced and given to Belarus and Sri Lanka. It shows the growing interest to the SCO in the world."
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