News Conference following Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit.Part 1
June 16, 2009
Yekaterinburg
Пресс-конференция по итогам заседания Совета глав государств членов Шанхайской организации сотрудничества.Part 2
16 июня 2009 года
Екатеринбург
We looked into organisational issues regarding the SCO Secretary-General and the director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure. These two positions are filled by representatives from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, who will begin their duties in January 2010. We are passing our chairmanship on to Uzbekistan, and we wish our Uzbek colleagues success in this post, as I already said during the summit. But I am certain that our work will continue throughout the year in all different formats. The SCO is becoming a fundamental, serious, and universal platform for discussing a variety of matters not just as an occasion or a place to discuss issues of relevance to the region, but as a mechanism for resolving them, as well. The SCOs authority is increasing. Yesterday was the eighth anniversary of its formation, and I feel that these eight years have not been wasted. Furthermore, I think there are few organisations that are able to accumulate as much political and economic clout in just eight years; so overall, SCO member states have expressed satisfaction with its work. As the outgoing chairperson, I wanted to share some of these thoughts.
Thats about all that I wanted to say to begin with.
I am ready to take questions.
QUESTION: What was the main economic outcome of this summit and what can you say regarding a common supranational currency? All the leaders say that it is necessary, but they didnt mention anything regarding a timetable and implementation. Do you have any comments on this?
DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Would you like me to tell you the secret of what this supranational currency will be called?
I will begin by talking about the economic results overall. Indeed, the SCO was created as a security organisation, but security can be broadly defined. This is particularly true when we all went from a normal economic state of affairs to an active, difficult economic crisis. As a result, the economy was at the centre of our attention today. It was not simply addressed from the same angle as, for example, at the G20 or G8 summits, or at the expanded G8 summit (meaning, the G8+5 group involved in the Heiligendamm process, the so-called Outreach Five format); it was also discussed on an entirely concrete level. After all, we have here a set of countries that are close to one another, that have historic and linguistic ties, and ties in many other areas.
We therefore discussed a number of infrastructure projects. Each country presented its own vision. We agreed that today, it is highly important to implement joint economic programmes. The Peoples Republic of China announced its decision to allocate 10 billion dollars toward various SCO projects. This would not involve targeted assistance for countries suffering as a result of the crisis, since we already have other mechanisms to do this, including the ones that we are involved in. Instead, this funding would be directed toward joint economic projects that are based on normal commercial principles but are also trans-national. These projects will unify our countries and resolve long-lasting economic problems, including those related to infrastructure. This is a good initiative, and we welcome it.
We also discussed other kinds of projects, including ones in the energy sector, construction, and infrastructure. I feel that we now have fairly concrete plans for cooperation. It was also suggested that we pass and then ratify a number of conventions, including an SCO convention on protecting capital investments. I think that we will continue discussing all this in the future.
As for the fascinating topic of currency, we remarked on some clear facts. First of all, todays reserve currencies have not quite been able to fulfil their functions (particularly the main reserve currency, the US dollar). The creation of a new reserve currency is a long process. Still, my own speeches and those of my colleagues have addressed the growing awareness that we simply cannot go without additional reserve currencies. Reserve currencies cannot be introduced through a presidential executive order or a decision by central banks. This is a process whereby an economy must gain prestige and other nations must want to maintain their reserves in a particular foreign currency. It is a common understanding that reserve currencies must not only circulate as a means of payment between countries, but also be used as a means of financial accumulation, to be used as financial instruments.
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Д.Медведев.Пресс-конференция.16.06.09.Part 1by niknikolay271 views
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