TEHRAN — First Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber said in the 20th Meeting of SCO Council of Prime Ministers held online on Thursday that the bloc was a successful example of strategic regional cooperation and in line with promotion of multilateralism in international arena.

Iran was officially accepted into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on September 17 during the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the organization.

Iran's membership in this organization, in addition to political achievements, will also offer a wide range of economic opportunities to the Islamic Republic’s businessmen.

Mokhber appreciated the member states for accepting Iran’s request for full membership and said that Iran was ready to complete its membership process in the shortest time possible.

He said that Iran, as a responsible member of the regional and global community, enjoys many capabilities, including sustainable security and stability, rich energy resources, geographical continuity and national integration, extended historical and cultural ties with the SCO member states, and a rich culture that prevents growth of extremism.

The first vice president also referred to Iran’s transportation advantages due to adjacency with the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian Gulf in the south which allows the member states to get connected to global markets.

As a policy announced by President Ebrahim Raisi, Mokhber said, the Islamic Republic of Iran attaches a lot of importance to strengthening ties with countries in the region, especially to facilitate transportation from China, South Asia and Southeast Asia to Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Russia.

He singled out Afghanistan, saying that without paying attention to security grounds and challenges, the planning for facilitation of investment and expansion of economic cooperation to reach sustainable development and security wouldn’t be possible.

Mokhber mentioned several economic mechanisms devised by the SCO, including Interbank Consortium, Business Council, Development Bank and Energy Club, and said that Iran welcomed all these mechanisms and was ready to activate all its capacity to realize the goals of the mechanisms.

 SCO membership to facilitate Iran’s foreign trade: TPO head

Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), Alireza Peyman Pak, stressed on November 14 that Iran should take advantage of this opportunity to develop its economic relations, noting that the country's diplomatic apparatus can benefit from the conditions of membership in the SCO to reduce tariffs, establish banking relations, and make the best use of transportation, logistics and energy transfer.

“Membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization alone will not ensure development, but creates the conditions for us to expand our relations through bilateral and multilateral treaties,” the official said.

“There is the necessary synergy between the authorities in charge of developing relations with the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and in this regard, a policy council has been formed with the presence of all the mentioned authorities to use treaties such as SCO and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) under the supervision of the High Export Council,” he explained.

He stressed that given the current situation in the country, joining the SCO is a golden opportunity for the Iranian economy, noting that the country's economy needs more than ever to develop non-oil exports in order to be able to compensate for the decrease in oil revenues and on the other hand, to increase the gross domestic product.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance. It is the world's largest regional organization in geographic scope and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, 40 percent of the world population, and more than 20 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).