Page 27 - IRANRptOct21

5.2 FTA, multilateral agreements
Iran cements ties with East as it becomes full member of SCO
Armenia and Iran sign MoU on expanding cooperation with Iranian SMEs
Russia, China and the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) wasted no time in granting Iran de facto full membership of the Eurasian political, economic and security body on September 17.
Prior to the annual SCO summit, this year held in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, there was speculation that granting the membership could prove a long-winded process, but Tehran was quick to step forward with a resounding announcement that it had been made part of the increasingly influential club, with only technicalities to be dealt with before formal admission.
Apart from Russia and China, Iran—which has held observer status at the intergovernmental organisation for 15 years—will now also sit alongside India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the SCO. The body was formed in 2001 by Moscow, Beijing and ex-Soviet Central Asian states. By now it covers towards half of the world’s population.
Referring to sanctions in his summit speech as a form of “economic terrorism”, President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran wanted closer ties with its regional neighbours and rejected Washington’s “unilateralism”.
Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) on September 17 detailed the level of trade that Iran and the SCO members saw in the last Persian year (ended March 20. IRICA said trade with China stood at $18.9bn, with India $3.4bn, Russia $1.6bn, Pakistan $1.2bn, Uzbekistan $256mn, Kazakhstan $205mn, Kyrgyzstan $51mn and Tajikistan $24mn. For SCO observer states, the figures were Afghanistan $2.3bn, Belarus $30mn and Mongolia $3mn.
Armenia and Iran have signed a new agreement on cooperation with Iranian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those active in exporting foodstuffs and home appliances.
The CEO of the Iran Small Industries and Industrial Towns Organization Ali Rasoulian told IRNA on July 16 that last week Yerevan and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding to expand cooperation.
Rasoulian said Armenia is a member state of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a fact that could play a key role in transiting Iranian commodities to Russia and even European countries.
The shipment corridor can be used for the export of goods, the supply of technologies and machinery as well as engineering and technical services, the deputy minister emphasised.
According to the official, Armenian industry is in dire need of Iran’s industrial progress, and the opportunity should be utilised in due time; otherwise, the rival states will take the opportunity.
Trade exchanges between Armenia and Iran increased from about $80mn in previous years to around $500mn in recent years, Mortaji went on to say. House building products, agriculture products and equipment, foodstuff, medical tools, home appliances and solar panels are among Iran-made commodities that could find proper demand in Armenia, he said.
Head of the Iran-Armenia Joint Chamber of Commerce Hervik Yarijanian pointed out the mutual trade worth $500mn, noting that setting up a new free trade zone at the joint border could help increase trade volume.
Yarijanian expressed the hope that thanks to neighbourliness, the two countries could magnify trade to $1.2bn within less than one year.
27 IRAN Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com