India's first SCO-IBC meeting held with focus on climate finance, SDGs, creation of data bank
Dec 21, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 21 : The 19th meeting of the Experts and Coordinators of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Interbank consortium (SCO-IBC), and the first under India's presidency, concluded here on Wednesday.
During the meeting, it was decided to create a data bank of the various initiatives which have been taken so far, work towards sustainable development goals, and climate finance initiatives, besides sharing the best practices and experiences amongst the member countries.
Delegates from the Member Banks from eight countries -- India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- participated in the meeting, a statement said.
Largely, the discussion was centred around the initiatives undertaken in the area of expansion of cooperation between the member banks of the SCO-IBC, cooperation in the field of exchange of experience and skills, and personnel training of the SCO IBC member banks, creation of a database for the activities of the SCO IBC for the 20th anniversary of the consortium, and other areas of cooperation between the Member Banks to strengthen partnership within the framework of the SCO IBC.
Pawan Kumar, Deputy Managing Director, IIFCL and Chair of SCO-IBC said that India was happy to Chair the SCO-IBC committee meeting.
"We are hopeful that it will go a long way in promoting cooperation amongst the member banks in this SCO region to promote the development of infrastructure in each country. We will wish to take forward the agenda of SCO-IBC forward and we are hoping to organize and share the experience with each of the member countries in the Eurasian region," Pawan Kumar was quoted in the statement.
Kumar said they want to work towards sustainable development goals and was looking towards climate finance initiatives also in this region.
The next meeting will be on capacity building on February 8, 2023. Then in April, the meeting of the heads of the council of the SCO member banks will take place.
Earlier this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, which took place in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 15-16, 2022.
During the summit, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Presidency for the forthcoming period 2022-23 was passed onto India from Uzbekistan.
India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) is presiding over the Presidency of the SCO Interbank Consortium (SCO IBC) during the period of October 26 to October 25 2023.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO IBC) was established on October 26, 2005, under the decision made by the Council of Heads of SCO Member States to create a mechanism to financially support and service investment projects in the SCO member countries economic area (Agreement on Interbank Cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization). India was granted observer status in the SCO during the Astana Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July 2005.
It joined the SCO as a full member during the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) summit in Astana in June 2017.
India Infrastructure Finance Cooperation Limited (IIFCL) was nominated by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance in 2017 to represent India at the SCO Interbank Consortium (SCO IBC) and since then it has been participating in the forum.
The main activities of the SCO IBC are an organization of financing of investment projects, the development of interaction with authorized financial institutions of the observer states and partners in the SCO dialogue, cooperation with the leading economic structures operating in the SCO space the exchange of experience and cooperation in the field of personal training.
