The Kyrgyz acting prime minister, Almazbek Atambayev, has said at a session of the council of the heads of government of the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] member countries that a traditional priority for Kyrgyzstan in the activities of this organization is the economic component.

"In view of this, we consider it necessary to step up cooperation in carrying out the pilot projects which have been specified in a plan of measures to implement programmes on multilateral trade and economic cooperation between the SCO member states.

"Artificial restrictions should be lifted and obstacles to the expansion of trade and economic cooperation should be removed in order to fully develop regional cooperation within the SCO," Atambayev said.

He noted that Kyrgyzstan welcomed the signing at the session of an agreement between the SCO member states’ governments on cooperation and providing reciprocal assistance in customs affairs, which is to pave the way for products of national plants to get easy access to the regional market and for the free movement of goods, services, capital and manpower.

Atambayev also said that it was necessary to take measures to speed up the signing of multilateral agreements on encouraging and mutually protecting investments and on creating favourable conditions for international road haulage in order to expand the international legal basis for trade and investment, as well as to create a single transit and transport system in the region.

"In the context of practically implementing mutually beneficial pilot projects involving many parties, we intend to actively cooperate with our partners in the organization in developing Kyrgyzstan’s rich hydroelectric resources and in improving transport infrastructure, as well as in the sphere of telecommunications and information technology," the Kyrgyz prime minister said.

He said that Kyrgyzstan considered it crucial to speed up the implementation of a road project on "Developing the Osh-Sary-Tash-Irkeshtam[Kyrgyz mountain passes leading to China]-Kashgar [otherwise known as Kashi; city in western China ] and the Bratstvo-Dushanbe[Tajik capital]-Karamyk-Kashgar roads with a transhipment terminal to be built in Kashgar to organize multi-modal shipments". This will provide not only with the shortest route from Kyrgyzstan to Dushanbe, but also restore the transport route connecting Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to China and other countries in the region.

"We also give a special importance to the implementation of a China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, which, this is my deep conviction, is designed to considerably promote the intensification of trade and economic cooperation between the SCO member states and to raise the transport potential of the region in Eurasia to a different quality level," Atambayev said.

He noted that a comprehensive analysis showed that the construction of this new cross-border railway line was beneficial.