According to the official website of Iran's Presidential Office, during the second day of his stay in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to take part in the 21st summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), President Raisi held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, emphasizing the need for expansion of the current economic exchanges between Armenia and Iran.
Raisi went on to say that a working group should be established to pursue economic collaborations such as energy exchange, transportation, joint production projects, and financial exchanges to prepare a turning point in upgrading the level of interactions between the two countries.
As to capabilities of Iran’s industrial and private sector to meet Armenia’s requirements in the fields of services and commodities, the Iranian president said that specialized working groups should work on economic agreements and try to remove obstacles according to a time table.
The Armenian premier, for his turn, underlined that his country attaches importance to expansion of relations with neighboring states, adding that President Raisi’s administration also wants to expand ties, so this kind of attitude can help create a new round of prosperous relationship between Iran and Armenia.
Pashinyan described Tehran’s role in the region as constructive, saying that Iran’s influence in the region has always backed stability and that Yerevan welcomes Iranian initiatives to resolve regional issues.
He also welcomed Raisi’s suggestion to activate joint economic commissions, noting that he will order his cabinet to remove obstacles on the way of carrying out former agreements.
The 21st summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) opened in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Friday, with participation of heads of 12 member and observer states, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon along with top officials from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran are present in the event, while presidents of Russia, China, India and Mongolia take part in the summit via video conference.
The SCO consists of eight permanent member states, including India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia and Uzbekistan. Four states of Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are still observer members and six countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an effective regional and intra-state organization, which was established by leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001.
The 21st summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will come to an end on September 17.
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