Head of Iran-Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce Hossein Salimi told IRNA on Wednesday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is one of important international mechanisms, which can provide member states such as the Islamic Republic with economic development and prosperity.
After 16 years, eight main member states of the SCO voted for permanent membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The event took place in the second day of the 21st SCO Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on September 17.
Iran’s full membership in the organization will pave the way for expanding export and import exchanges with other member states, because there are some regulations, which facilitate transit of commodities among the economic partners, Salimi argued.
This kind of regional and international convergence will improve economic condition of member states and creates more job opportunities in different economic sectors of the countries, he added.
In June 2001, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan organized a meeting in Shanghai, China, to announce a new organization and expand political and economic cooperation.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is the successor to the Shanghai Five, which is a mutual security agreement formed in 1996 between China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The SCO is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geography and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent. About 40 percent of the world population and over 20 percent of global gross domestic product exist in the organization.
Iran joined the SCO in 2005. Now, following the country's full membership, it is up to time to wait and see what kind of changes will happen for the Iranian economy.
The full membership can facilitate economic and trade relations between Iran and other member states of the SCO.
The Islamic Republic can find good opportunities in energy and transportation fields, because there are both exporters and importers of oil and gas among the SCO member states.
Totally, the SCO with 20% and 50% of oil and gas reservoirs respectively can turn into one of the most important hubs of economy and energy in the world.
Thus, Iran as an oil and gas exporters can expand its economic and trade ties with other member states.
Iran's trade ties with the SCO member states stood at 55 million tons worth 15.154 billion dollars in the last Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2020 to March 20, 2021).
Iran's main trade partner among the member states is China. The trade volumes with China, India, Afghanistan, Russia, and Pakistan stand at 3.4, 2.3, 1.6, and 1.2 billion dollars respectively.
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