The Minister of Communication and Information Technology, currently in China to represent I.R. of Iran for the 14th session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) dedicated to Heads of Governments (Prime Ministers), informs of the support and inclination of SCO’s member states for the full membership of Iran in this organization.
According to ICT Ministry’s PR department, Dr. Mahmoud Vaezi told IRNA reporters this Thursday that: “During the meetings and discussions we had with high-ranking representatives of the attending states on the sidelines of the conference, all of them were emphasizing on the fact that the time for full acceptance and membership of Iran, currently an observer state, in this international organization is finally at hand.
Dr. Vaezi added that: “In meeting with high-ranking officials of the member states, and also with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Secretary-General of SCO, the main topic of the discussions were the permanent membership of Iran, and everybody was voicing their agreement with the realization of this issue.
Iran’s prominent representative had separate meetings on the sidelines of the conference with Li Keqiang, Dmitry Medvedev, and Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Ministers of China, Russia, and Pakistan, and also Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan.
Vaezi underscored that: “Because of the cohesion and solidity observed in this regard among participating member countries of the 14th session of the Heads of Governments of the SCO, apparently negotiations are underway regarding Iran and everything is ready for granting permanent membership to Iran in the main Heads of State council of the SCO.
Our Communication Minister who is already in China to participate in the 2nd World Internet Conference in the city of Wuzhen in eastern China, expressed hopefulness that in the next session of the SCO’s Heads of State meeting, this decision shall be realized, based on the preliminary works carried out by member countries, and also the termination of the sanctions.
Terrorism is the mutual concern of the SCO member countries.
The representative of the I.R. of Iran in the 14th session of the Heads of Governments of the SCO, which concluded its sessions last night in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou by issuing a declaration, further elaborated on the topic of terrorism and extremism in the region and the concerns of the member countries in this regard, adding that: “One of the major subjects set forth during these sessions, covered the growth and expansion of terrorism which was raised by high-ranking officials and participants, including Iran, as a common and mutual problem.”
Vaezi went on to say: “One of the major topics of my speech in this session was extremism and its consequent problems which has involved the region and most of the countries of the world.”
He included that: “At that session, the participants were reminded that today, terrorism and extremism have changed into principal concerns of countries in the region and the international community, and this subject is no longer a localized issue limited to a certain area or region in the world.”
Our esteemed representative in the 14th session of SCO’s Heads of Governments council reminded that: “Since terrorism is transforming into a global problem, the Iranian delegation stressed on the fact that ‘obliterating this ominous phenomenon requires international cooperation, especially closer collaborations among SCO’s member countries’, something which was warmly received by SCO members.”
Developing Economic Relations, main objective of SCO
Dr. Vaezi continued by referring to strengthening economic stamina and developing commercial relations among SCO member nations, and was particularly well received by present members.
He stated that: “Other important and major topics presented by the member countries, including Iran, were the strengthening and reinforcing of economic cooperation, increasing the level of participation in international arena between member and observer states, and also expansion of relations in various economic areas, including transportation, customs, ICT, Energy, Banking, and Commerce.”
The ICT Minister emphasized that in order to implement these policies, and also based on the concluding statement of the conference, it was decided that all members should try to find courses for arriving at those objectives, and also use innovative approaches for further development of regional cooperation.”
In another part of his talks, he stated that: “The SCO’s Heads of Governments Meeting in China was a great opportunity for exchanging information and discussing issues with the representatives of other nations, talk about Iran’s economic viewpoints, investing in Iran, and the existing opportunities in post-sanction area.”
Announcing that all these suggestions were well received by the conference participants, Vaezi added that: “On separate meetings we had with the Prime Ministers and high-ranking officials of some countries on the sidelines of the conference, it was noticeable that all of them were stressing on this fact that with the removal of sanctions against Iran, they well be faced with better opportunities for cooperation with Tehran.”
According to IRNA, the 14th annual meeting of the Heads of Governments (Prime Ministers) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’ (SCO), was held this year in Zhengzhou, China, on Monday and Tuesday (December 14-15), and Dr. Vaezi, the Communication Minister attended this conference, representing the I.R. of Iran.
By the conclusion of the SCO conference, he will leave Zhengzhou for the city of Wuzhen in eastern Zhejiang province of China, to attend another three day conference: China’s 2nd summit of the World Internet Conference (2015).