TEHRAN, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran can benefit from its full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should it take "necessary" steps, experts said.
Iran's full membership was approved at the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO held via a video conference on July 4.
In his address to the summit made from Tehran, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the SCO is "a growing organization with significant indicators and capacities and an excellent position" in expanding political, security and economic cooperation, according to a statement published on the website of his office on July 4.
Political and economic experts said the SCO membership will provide Iran with many advantages if Iran takes the initiative to boost the competitiveness of its goods and products in the international markets.
In a commentary published on July 5 by Hamshahri Online news website, Tehran-based international affairs expert Abolfazl Zohrehvand said the SCO membership can benefit Iran in foreign relations, security and trade.
He added the SCO is an organization that upholds multilateralism and opposes "hegemonic objectives," stressing that as an organization owning over 40 percent of the world's population, it takes a significant share of the global economy, with trade among the SCO members that stood at 6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020, offering Iran, a new member, remarkable economic and trade opportunities.
The organization will also provide Iran with the opportunity to use loans and special customs regulations governing relations among the member states, he said.
China proposes that the SCO scale up local currency settlement between member states. Meanwhile, some SCO members like Russia and India have reached initial agreements with Iran to expand such settlement.
Tehran-based economic affairs expert Vahid Shaqaqi-Shahri said in an interview with Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary on July 5 that Iran can take the opportunity as a new full member in the SCO to reduce dollar transactions in its bilateral trade with other member states, given that the country, especially its oil and banking sectors, is under U.S. sanctions.
Iran needs to tilt its export policies toward encouraging quality goods and products to enter foreign markets, so as to balance trade with other SCO members and help replace dollar with national currencies in bilateral trades, Shaqaqi-Shahri added.
To this end, Iran should in the first place promote its comparative advantages in industry, services, and knowledge-based economy, according to the expert.
"We should not expect to instantly and immediately benefit from our membership in the organization, such as seeing a drop in the dollar's value (against that of the rial)," semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Majidreza Hariri, president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industries, as saying on Monday. He added that the "positive" impacts of the SCO membership will emerge in the long term.
Zohrehvand said Iran needs to better grasp market needs and trade status, including balance, of other SCO members, and take into consideration the common standards enforced among the SCO members and monitor well their customs regulations.
Zohrehvand stressed that the Iranian government's role is very important in gaining maximum benefits from the SCO membership, adding it should provide the country's private sector with the necessary support and guidance. ■
