TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s exports to the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) increased 41 percent in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2021-February 19, 2022) as compared to the figure for the previous year’s same period, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

According to Ruhollah Latifi, Iran exported 40,642,272 tons of goods worth more than $18.295 billion to the SCO members in the mentioned period, IRNA reported.

Iran and the SCO member countries traded over 48.903 million tons of commodities worth more than $32.712 billion in the said 11 months, Latifi stated.

The value of the total trade between the two sides in the said time span also increased by 31 percent year on year, he added.

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 which the largest volume of exports was to China which was $12.634 billion, the IRICA spokesman stated.

Afghanistan with $1.655 billion, India with $1.634 billion, Pakistan with $1.129 billion, and Russia with $439 million were next in terms of imports from Iran, the official said.

As for other SCO members, exports to Uzbekistan stood at $368 million, to Kazakhstan at $165 million, while the imports by Tajikistan reached $79 million, by Kyrgyzstan were $74 million, and the value of exports to Belarus stood at $16 million.

According to Latifi, China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan were the top five sources of imports for Iran among SCO members.

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