TEHRAN - The value of trade between Iran and the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) hit $28 billion in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

Ruhollah Latifi put the weight of commodities traded between the two sides at over 55 million tons, IRIB reported.

Iran’s export to the SCO members was 46 million tons valued at $13.6 billion during the mentioned year, while the imports from the mentioned countries stood at nine million tons worth $13.2 billion in the said time span, according to Latifi.

Iran has cross-border trade with 11 key member states and observer states of the Shanghai Agreement, including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Belarus, among them the largest volume of trade was with China which is $18.9 billion, the IRICA spokesman stated.

India with $3.4 billion worth of trade, Afghanistan with $2.3 billion, Russia with $1.6 billion, and Pakistan with $1.2 billion were next in terms of trade volume, the official said.

As for other SCO members, trade with Uzbekistan stood at $256 million, with Kazakhstan at $205 million, with Kyrgyzstan $51 million, and the value of trade with Belarus stood at $30 million, while trade with Tajikistan reached $24 million and $3 million of goods were traded with Mongolia.

According to Latifi, Iran had the highest trade volume with China and the lowest trade volume with Mongolia among the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The official put the Islamic Republic’s trade with the SCO members at $12.5 billion in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22).

Iran export basket to SCO members includes a variety of fish and seafood, vegetables, fruits, textiles and clothing, industrial and agricultural machinery, home appliances, petrochemicals, pistachios and nuts, while imported products are often industrial raw materials, machinery parts, meat, medicine, chemical products, medical equipment, auto parts and spare parts, as well as all kinds of fabrics and artifacts.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance, the creation of which was announced on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Charter, formally establishing the organization, was signed in June 2002 and entered into force on September 19, 2003.

EF/MA