Mirziyoyev Proposes SCO Railway Integration Council

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed establishing a Council for the Integration of Railway Spaces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states during the SCO Council of Heads of State meeting in Bishkek on 1 September 2026, the Uzbek presidential press service said.

Mirziyoyev highlighted the development of an extensive system of international transport corridors as a key priority for future cooperation within the organization. The proposed council would coordinate logistics infrastructure development and align the national transport systems of SCO member countries.

Emphasizing that the competitiveness of SCO nations depends on their ability to integrate capabilities and create conditions for joint development, the Uzbek president proposed drafting a long-term development concept titled SCO 2040: Space of Common Development. He stated that its goal should be establishing an interconnected and sustainable space allowing the free exchange of investments, technology, and knowledge, while driving major infrastructure projects and expanding ties among regions, businesses, and citizens.

Mirziyoyev drew attention to growing bilateral trade and investment, noting that more than 1,500 joint projects involving SCO member states are currently underway in Uzbekistan. He urged member nations to leverage this momentum to form multilateral value chains. To support this, Uzbekistan proposed creating an SCO Industrial Cooperation Map to connect special economic zones, manufacturing processes, sales markets, and logistics through a single digital window for business and government entities.

The president also called for accelerating the operational launch of the SCO Development Bank, suggesting its focus be based on investment proposals of regional significance. He recommended engaging the SCO Council of Heads of Government to build a portfolio of priority projects in transport, energy, industrial cooperation, and digital infrastructure.

Additional Uzbek initiatives included establishing an SCO Open Multilingual Data Corpus to advance artificial intelligence cooperation and developing a technological cooperation program for water and energy efficiency through 2035. Mirziyoyev noted that railway integration should form part of a broader transport connectivity system across SCO member states.