7/14/24 Russia, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Trade Hits US$330 Billion

Anton Alikhanov, the Russian Industry and Trade Minister, has stated that mutual trade between Russia and the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) surged by 25% in 2023, reaching US$333 billion. The SCO completed their annual Heads of State meetings in Astana last week. This means that Russia’s trade with the SCO equates to about 40% of its annual total global trade.

Alikhanov said that in terms of mutual direct investment, Russia’s direct investment into SCO countries had reached US$10.2 billion and added that nearly the same amount came into Russia from SCO members.

The SCO includes Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan and Mongolia have an observer status with the SCO, and a further fourteen — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye and the UAE have dialogue partner status.

The SCO represents 40% of the world’s population, with member countries contributing about US$23 trillion (30%) of global GDP.

The goals of the organization are to strengthen relations between member states and promote cooperation in the political, economic, scientific, cultural, and educational fields.

Last week, speaking at the SCO summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the use of national currencies in Russia’s settlements with fellow SCO members had exceeded 92%. Putin reiterated Moscow’s proposal to develop an independent mechanism for settling payments within the SCO, adding that joint efforts made by finance ministers and central bank governors had helped to strengthen trade and investment ties within the group.