Swarup identifies cooperation areas
India has been urged to actively participate in promoting e-commerce among member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), give it being the driving force in digitization.
“Given that India is one of the driving forces behind the development of digitization and electronic commerce, we believe it is important that India actively participates in promoting e-commerce among the SCO countries,” said SCO Secretary General Vladimir Norov.
He also called on SCO member countries to cooperate in developing e-commerce in the region as it is rapidly growing and changing the structure of world economy.
“The time has come for purposeful and active action for development of e-commerce in our countries,” said Norov at the ‘Enhancing Indian Industry’s Engagement with SCO’ conference organised by FICCI on 13 Jan 2020.
Norov said that e-commerce provides opportunities for companies to expand their markets, scale up their businesses, reduce transaction cost through economies of scale and more efficient use of capital, as well as to create new jobs.
Elaborating, he said that globalisation process despite the rise of some restrictive trade practices has opened up great opportunities for the growth of developing countries and SCO can play a key role in facilitating and boosting international trade.
“India’s accession to SCO as a full-fledged member has opened up new opportunities for further development and deepening of full-scale cooperation. This will be beneficial to India and other SCO members states,” he underlined.
Vikas Swarup, Secretary West, Ministry of External Affairs, noted that the SCO has emerged as a key regional organisation in the Eurasian space in the past two decades accounting for 40% of the world?s population.
“India has emerged as an attractive destination for medical tourism,” highlighted Swarup while identifying areas of potential cooperation in the region as pharmaceutical, health, hospitality, renewable energy, education, culture, infrastructure, energy and disaster management.
Shiv Vikram Khemka, Chair, National Chapter of India at SCO Business Council, talked about increasing cultural connectivity among the SCO nations by engaging the youth of the member countries in areas like art, literature, music and movies.
He also said that economic collaboration is the foundation of regional collaboration.
FICCI President Dr Sangita Reddy added that SCO is one of the most significant collaborations for India.
India’s full membership to SCO will provide immense economic opportunities for India and other member countries, he pointed out.
“India is one of the largest consumer markets in the world with a rising middle class population and a sizeable young workforce,” said Dr Reddy, highlighting India’s progress in healthcare sector where quality medical treatment is available at one-tenth of global prices. fiinews.com
