Scientific and expert forum on information security of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Tashkent on 6 September.

The event is held by the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan with the support of the Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

The dialogue on information security issues, organized in a hybrid format with online connection of foreign participants, plans to bring together more than 30 leading experts from the representatives of relevant ministries and departments, scientific, academic and analytical circles of the SCO member states.

The representative composition of the participants will allow discussing the latest trends and achievements in the field of digitalization, as well as exchanging best national experience in countering threats to information and cyber security in the context of ensuring human rights and the rule of law in the SCO space.

The initiative to hold this Forum was put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the Dushanbe SCO summit on 17 September 2021.

Given the observed steady growth in the adoption of digital technologies and online activity around the world, the organization of this event is very relevant. Since the rapid digitalization of the life of society, business and the state raises a number of objective problems. In particular, the pandemic caused a sharp increase in cybercrime in the information space. According to experts, in 2021 the number of cyber attacks in the world increased by 50% compared to 2020. The damage from cybercrime in 2021 exceeded US$6 trillion compared to US$3 trillion in 2015.

The problem of protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats remains relevant. According to experts, the most frequently attacked sectors are energy, industry, defense and the public sector.

Along with this, the information space began to be regarded by extremist ideologists as the most attractive platform for conducting ideological propaganda.

The above negative trends require the SCO member states to develop comprehensive approaches to protecting cyberspace and ensuring information security. The cross-border nature of these threats dictates the need to complement national efforts with joint actions at the regional and international levels.

It should also be emphasized that today the SCO has already established cooperation on issues of ensuring international information security. Since 2006, Expert Group on International Information Security has been functioning within the framework of the SCO, which is a permanent body of the SCO and coordinates relevant ministries and departments.

In turn, the Agreement among the Governments of the SCO Member States in the field of ensuring international information security, signed on June 16, 2009 is the basis for cooperation in the field of information security.

In November 2020, the Joint Statement of the Heads of SCO Member States on Cooperation in Ensuring International Information Security was adopted.

In 2021, following the results of the anniversary SCO summit in Dushanbe, Plan of Interaction on ensuring international information security for 2022-2023 was signed, developed with the active participation of Uzbekistan.

Currently, without exception, all SCO countries are implementing national strategic and conceptual documents aimed at developing a digital society, transferring public administration, financial and economic sectors to digital format.

In this context, the important and timely initiative of the President of Uzbekistan to hold a forum will allow the participants to develop specific proposals and practical recommendations for the formation of a unified policy to counter threats and challenges in the field of information security, as well as agree on common approaches to ensure free and unhindered access to information for citizens SCO countries.

Iran’s trade with Turkmenistan during the first half of 2022 has already surpassed the entirety of bilateral trade last year.

Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Gholam Abbas Arbab Khales told IRNA news agency on Monday that trade between the two countries during the first six months of 2022 amounted to $233 million.

This is while bilateral trade between Iran and Turkmenistan during the entire 2021 amounted to $227 million.

Arbab khales said that the boom in Iran’s trade with Turkmenistan is taking place in line with President Ebrahim Raeisi’s foreign policy of reaching out to the neighboring countries.

He also noted that Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedow picked Iran as the destination for his second foreign visit following Russia after being elected to the post which is a significant signal of his attention to expansion of ties with Tehran. 

Iran’s trade with Turkmenistan during the first half of 2022 has already surpassed the entirety of bilateral trade last year.

Iranian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Gholam Abbas Arbab Khales told IRNA news agency on Monday that trade between the two countries during the first six months of 2022 amounted to $233 million.

This is while bilateral trade between Iran and Turkmenistan during the entire 2021 amounted to $227 million.

Arbab khales said that the boom in Iran’s trade with Turkmenistan is taking place in line with President Ebrahim Raeisi’s foreign policy of reaching out to the neighboring countries.

He also noted that Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedow picked Iran as the destination for his second foreign visit following Russia after being elected to the post which is a significant signal of his attention to expansion of ties with Tehran. 

A new report by Turkish Statistical Institute suggests that Iran’s exports to Turkey in the first seven months of 2022 has grown by 56% compared to the same period in 2021.

The report also shows that Iran’s total trade with Turkey stood at $3.84 billion in the period under review up 33% in comparison to $2.87 billion of the same period of the preceding year.  

Turkey’s exports to Iran stood at $1.7 billion in the mentioned period registering a 13% year-on-year increase, the report said.

It also added that Turkey’s imports from neighboring Iran totaled $2.14 billion in the seven-month period showing some 56% growth in comparison to the same period of the preceding year.

Iran registered a $443 million surplus in the seven-month trade with Turkey, the figures suggested. 

A new report by Turkish Statistical Institute suggests that Iran’s exports to Turkey in the first seven months of 2022 has grown by 56% compared to the same period in 2021.

The report also shows that Iran’s total trade with Turkey stood at $3.84 billion in the period under review up 33% in comparison to $2.87 billion of the same period of the preceding year.  

Turkey’s exports to Iran stood at $1.7 billion in the mentioned period registering a 13% year-on-year increase, the report said.

It also added that Turkey’s imports from neighboring Iran totaled $2.14 billion in the seven-month period showing some 56% growth in comparison to the same period of the preceding year.

Iran registered a $443 million surplus in the seven-month trade with Turkey, the figures suggested. 

TEHRAN – Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeie has said the country’s industrial sector is in urgent need of technological improvement and modernization, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Speaking in a meeting with the members of the Parliament Planning and Budget Committee on Saturday, Shafeie said that technological upgrading and modernization of machinery is a great need of the industry sector, which will practically face a dead end with the cancellation of the tax exemption for the import of machinery.

Referring to the challenges of the industrial sector in the country’s current economic conditions, the ICCIMA head said: “One of our important issues in the production and industry sector is the serious technology gap compared to global competitors. On the other hand, the depreciation of machinery has caused the cost of production to increase significantly and the conditions for competition to become even harder.”

Mentioning a decision for the cancellation of the tax exemption for the imports of industrial machinery, the official said that this issue has caused serious concerns for the country’s productive sector because if the importers of machinery are not exempted from paying tax it won’t be economically justifiable for them to continue to do so.

“Although there are discussions to amend this decision and some measures have also been taken, there is still a serious concern in this regard for the country's productive sector, and the parliament can play a very important role in this regard,” Shafeie added.

Referring to the possibility of the JCPOA talks reaching an agreement, the ICCIMA head underlined the necessity of having foresight in this regard and emphasized: “if an agreement is reached, the result for the country will be the increase of oil revenues; so, there is the concern that the same strategies as before will be followed and the generated revenues will not be allocated enough to the development of productive and infrastructure sectors.”

“The Planning and Budget Committee should take the necessary measures in this regard so that the mentioned capital is directed to the productive and infrastructure sectors,” he stressed.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in January-July 2022, the export of textile products from Uzbekistan was carried out in the amount of US$1.91 billion, which accounted for 17% of the total export deliveries. Compared to January-July 2021, it increased by 19.2%.

In the structure of exports of textile products, the main share is occupied by cotton yarn (51.3%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (25.1%).

In January-July 2022, more than 494 types of textile products were exported to 67 countries of the world.

The role of light industry in the economy of Uzbekistan has increased markedly: its share in GDP amounted to 8.8%, in the volume of industrial production - 14.8%, in the volume of production of non-food consumer goods - over 44%.

To date, over 500 thousand people work at the enterprises of the industry.

Russia remains one of the largest and most reliable partners for Uzbek textile workers.

Official statistics recorded that in seven months of this year, textile products worth US$698.3 million were shipped to the Russian Federation, with an increase of 35.6% compared to the same period last year.

Over the 5 years of work of the Uztekstilprom association, the number of Uzbek exporters in the Russian Federation has grown 1.7 times, exports - 2.7 times (up to 960 million dollars). Cooperation links brought together more than 400 manufacturers of yarn, fabrics and knitted fabrics; investments covered 44 enterprises in Russia and 31 enterprises in Uzbekistan.

Strong ties have been established with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, an agreement has been concluded with the government of Ivanovo Region.

According to official forecasts, export deliveries are expected to grow to US$7 billion by 2025.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in January-July 2022, the export of textile products from Uzbekistan was carried out in the amount of US$1.91 billion, which accounted for 17% of the total export deliveries. Compared to January-July 2021, it increased by 19.2%.

In the structure of exports of textile products, the main share is occupied by cotton yarn (51.3%), as well as finished knitwear and garments (25.1%).

In January-July 2022, more than 494 types of textile products were exported to 67 countries of the world.

The role of light industry in the economy of Uzbekistan has increased markedly: its share in GDP amounted to 8.8%, in the volume of industrial production - 14.8%, in the volume of production of non-food consumer goods - over 44%.

To date, over 500 thousand people work at the enterprises of the industry.

Russia remains one of the largest and most reliable partners for Uzbek textile workers.

Official statistics recorded that in seven months of this year, textile products worth US$698.3 million were shipped to the Russian Federation, with an increase of 35.6% compared to the same period last year.

Over the 5 years of work of the Uztekstilprom association, the number of Uzbek exporters in the Russian Federation has grown 1.7 times, exports - 2.7 times (up to 960 million dollars). Cooperation links brought together more than 400 manufacturers of yarn, fabrics and knitted fabrics; investments covered 44 enterprises in Russia and 31 enterprises in Uzbekistan.

Strong ties have been established with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, an agreement has been concluded with the government of Ivanovo Region.

According to official forecasts, export deliveries are expected to grow to US$7 billion by 2025.

TEHRAN – The members of the Knowledge-based Businesses Committee of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) gathered on Wednesday to discuss ways of facilitating the activities of such businesses in the country.

Designing financing tools to support knowledge-based projects, designing indirect venture investment models, as well as training and empowering of knowledge-based companies were among the subjects discussed at the meeting, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Based on the decisions made in the ICCIMA meeting, the implementation of the above-mentioned measures is going to be pursued by the Iranian Confederation of Knowledge-Based Associations (ICKA) in collaboration with the Electronics Support Fund for Research and Development (ESFRD).

Speaking at the meeting, ESFRD Head Mohsen Naderi-Manesh said Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade is serious about directing the capital in the industry sector towards advanced and knowledge-based production and ESFRD is trying to make this happen through the capital market.

He mentioned some of the services that his fund is currently offering to various businesses including providing bank facilities and granting guarantees, and noted that ESFRD’s support is not limited only to knowledge-based companies and businesses that operate in the field of advanced industries can also benefit from the fund’s services and facilities.

Further in this gathering, Head of ICCIMA’s Knowledge-based Businesses Committee Afshin Kolahi praised ESFRD’s performance regarding the support of advanced industries, saying: “Some of the ICKA members, that are not knowledge-based but operate in the field of advanced industries, have been always deprived of receiving facilities and services and now ESFRD can solve this problem.”

We all agree on the framework of collaborations between the fund and knowledge-based firms, Kolahi said adding that business-related institutions and organizations are the best places for evaluating knowledge-based projects and companies to receive support from the fund.

“Therefore, they can collaborate with the fund and establish the required communication. In addition, the services and activities of ESFRD can be added to the consultations and services that are currently provided by ICKA,” he said.

TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s exports to neighboring Turkey increased by 56 percent to reach $2.145 billion in the first seven months of 2022, according to the figures recently released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

As IRNA reported, Iran’s export to Turkey was $1.37 billion in the first seven months of the past year.

The trade between Iran and Turkey increased by 33 percent to $3.847 billion, up from $2.877 billion during the same period a year earlier.

Based on the mentioned data, Iran’s imports from the country also marked a 13-percent rise to hit $1.702 billion during the January-July period, from $1.507 billion the same time span in 2021.

Increasing non-oil exports to the neighboring countries is one of the major plans that the Iranian government has been pursuing in recent years.

During a webinar, held in March, on trade relations between Iran and Turkey, which was held through cooperation between Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) and Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC), and attended by officials from both chambers and a group of entrepreneurs, ways to develop economic relations between the two countries and some problems in this due were examined.

In this virtual conference, which was attended by more than 250 entrepreneurs from Iran and Turkey, the opportunities for cooperation between the two countries were examined and the two sides emphasized the development of cooperation.

Addressing the conference, Nihat Alayoglu, the secretary-general of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, referring to the political, economic and cultural similarities between Iran and Turkey, said: "The two countries have long-standing relations dating back more than 400 years, and more than 500 kilometers of common border, as well as several trade agreements with each other, in particular, the preferential trade agreement, which was concluded in 2015, is very important for both countries.”

He added that the value of trade between Iran and Turkey has increased from $1.2 billion in 2001 to about $5.6 billion in 2021. Of this amount, $2.7 billion is allocated to Turkish exports to Iran and $2.8 billion is related to Iran's exports to Turkey. Machinery and equipment are among the top exports of Turkey to Iran, and mainly materials such as copper and plastic are imported from Iran.

Noting that Turkey accounts for seven percent of Iran's $39-billion imports, he added: "Our goal is to increase Turkish exports to Iran to $10 billion, and it is obvious that the two countries' chambers of commerce have a role to play in increasing trade cooperation."

Bahman Eshqi, the secretary-general of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, for his part put emphasis on the significance of expanding economic ties between Iran and Turkey, and said, “Turkey is one of the gateways of Iran's economy to Europe, and Iran is one of the gateways connecting Turkey to the Silk Road and the lands of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) members. Iran can also be the main gateway for Turkey to join India and the subcontinent.”

Emphasizing that economic cooperation between the two countries is a necessity, Eshqi continued: "Compromise between the two nations has been strong for the last three centuries, and although at times there have been competitions between the two countries, Iran-Turkey cooperation is still developing."