Pakistan calls for greater focus on innovation and collaboration among SCO states

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has called for greater focus on innovation, collaboration and deeper integration among SCO countries to build a legacy of shared success that strengthens the entire region. 

Addressing the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Moscow today, he emphasized that the SCO is well placed to promote regional cooperation in dealing with the emergency situations and to expand cooperation in the humanitarian field.

Ishaq Dar said Pakistan has developed a technology driven proactive disaster management system. He said we are keen to organize simulation exercises with SCO partners to bolster disaster preparedness across the region.

The Deputy Prime Minister proposed to operationalize financial tools for the promotion of trade and economy. He said we must aggressively utilize the tools already at our disposal like the SCO inter-bank consortium to finance connectivity and technical collaboration projects.

Emphasizing the need for investing in the youth, Ishaq Dar said Pakistan advocates for a significant expansion of the SCO University Network into a consortium for applied knowledge.  He said this will facilitate not only student exchanges but also joint research programs in critical fields such as Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, agriculture, water resource management and tele-medicine.