Kazakhstan - Kazakhstan plans to carry out currency swaps with the Russian and Chinese central banks to ease trade with the two countries, National Bank chairman Grigoriy Marchenko said on Tuesday. According to Marchenko, U.S. dollar currently accounts for “99%” of all payments between Kazakhstan and China, its biggest trading partner, and using local currencies in trade would lead to a reduced demand for the Western currency. Marchenko said that member countries of the Customs Union (CU) - Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus - have to maintain a coherent monetary policy. Marchenko also told journalists that Kazakhstan could convert some of its foreign currency reserves into yuan, should the Chinese currency be globally recognized as a reserve currency by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Kazakhstan and China have reportedly already reached a concrete agreement on the currency swap.
Kazakhstan’s leading opposition party, said it would stage a rally in protest of the growing influence of Chinese oil companies that now control more than one fifth of Kazakh oil production. KazMunaigas, Kazakhstan’s state oil company, has already gone on the defense justifying its close cooperation with China in a bid to defuse the “anti-Chinese mood in society” by implying that Kazakhstan would stop handing oil assets to China.
SCO - Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) met in Astana Saturday on regional peace and security. During the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi lauded the SCO's contributions to promoting regional harmony and development as well as to the democratization of international relations since its inception 10 years ago. Also on Saturday, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev met with the SCO foreign ministers as a group on the sidelines of the meeting.
Meanwhile, according to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Afghanistan may join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as an observer at the group’s 10th jubilee summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, next month, and the SCO will also consider the applications of India and Pakistan to join the organisation as full members. Mr. Lavrov’s remarks suggested however, that while Afghanistan’s request may be granted at the SCO summit, formal admission of India and Pakistan as new members may not be on the cards yet. The killing of Osama bin Laden may trigger a “new wave of terror” in the region, urging the SCO to enhance cooperation with neighbouring states in anti-terrorism agenda.
Russia-China - Russia hopes to sign a long-awaited gas supply deal with China next month, when Chinese leader Hu Jintao is expected to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at an investor forum in St. Petersburg, a Kremlin advisor said Thursday." As far as the contract to supply gas to China is concerned, the work on it is ongoing and of course we would like this work to be completed before the forum starts," the Kremlin's top economic adviser Arkady Dvorkovich said. "Of course we expect partnership agreements to be signed at the forum." The St. Petersburg economic forum will take place June 16-18. Russian said last year it hoped to finalize a contract by mid-2011 with deliveries to start in 2015. So far the two sides have failed to agree on the pricing terms.
Articles referred to in this post:
"Марченко заговорил о девальвации валюты в Таможенном союзе" (Marchenko talked about devaluation of the currency in the Customs Union)
"Казахстан переводит средства в китайские юани" "Kazakhstan convert some of its foreign currency reserves into yuan"
"Oil: Kazakhs fear China at the gate"
"Главы МИД стран ШОС согласовали документы предстоящего юбилейного саммита организации" (The foreign ministers of SCO member states agreed on a document of the forthcoming anniversary summit of the Organization)
"杨洁篪出席上海合作组织成员国外长理事会会议" (Yang Jiechi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers Council meeting)
"Афганистан просит предоставить ему статус наблюдателя в ШОС" (Afghanistan asks for observer status in the SCO)
"Россия поддерживает намерение Пакистана вступить в ШОС" (Russia supports Pakistan to join the SCO)
"Россия надеется на подписание контракта с КНР по газу до середины июня" (Russia hopes to sign a contract with China on gas until mid-June)
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