SCO — big power, limited progress

The world economic order is fast changing, with industrial policymaking a rapid comeback in the United States and Europe at the cost of multilateralism and the Global South facing serious headwinds due to the dominance of the US dollar in the international financial system that gives Washington and other western capitals enormous leverage to impose economic blockade on any country. Against this backdrop, the 23rd Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met in Islamabad last week. The joint communiqué released by the SCO member states at the end of the moot echoes their concerns — rather frustration — about these developments as the group is worried over protectionist trade practices being adopted by the West and the use of economic sanctions by Washington and other developed European nations as a weapon to subdue other nations for their own benefits. At the same time, it underlines the need to protect and promote the World Trade Organisation’s multilateral trade system for inclusive global growth, particularly in developing and underdeveloped economies, reduce reliance on the American currency for international trade transactions, and improve digital and physical connectivity among the SCO countries.