As the Shanghai Cooperation Organization plans to hold its 21st summit in Tajikistan on September 16-17, experts are of the opinion that 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.
The SCO consists of eight permanent member states, including India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan 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 member states established a trade bloc in 2006 in order to enhance trade ties. This bloc concentrates on energy, transportation, telecommunications, banking, education, research, technology, health and agriculture cooperation.
The total volume of economic and trade ties of the SCO member states stands at nearly 20 trillion dollars, which has experienced a 13 times increase since its debut.
The member states’ economies cover each others’ demands, for instance Iran and Russia produce oil and gas, while China and India are importers of the energies.
Iran’s trade ties with the SCO member states stand at 30,356,787 tons worth 15.154 billion dollars. Iran’s main trade partner among the member states is China.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a great economic capacity, consisting of 2.6 billion population.
The main objective of formation of the organization has been creating balance of power in dealing with the influence of the US and NATO in Asia. Despite the fact that the organization is not considered as a defense consortium, it has played an effective role in many regional and international developments.
Although, the globalization doctrine has emerged as the mainstream paradigm of the international relations in recent decades, regionalization has played its key role in developing the global order; so, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as an outstanding entity in Eurasia has turned into a new combinatory model of regional and intercontinental contribution.
Director of the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Sun Zhuangzhi pointed out to the significance of the SCO, saying that following many years, the organization has played a key role in upgrading cooperation among member states, which are culturally and systematically different.
Referring to the role of the organization in today’s world, he noted that the SCO will continue to maintain regional stability, boost interests and development of member states.
He called on the member states of the organization to pay more attention to international developments in order to play more active role in upholding democracy and a multi-polar world.
