Saudi Arabia agrees to join SCO as a dialogue partner

Last Updated31/03/2023

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet decided to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as Riyadh builds a long-term partnership with China despite US security concerns.

Saudi Arabia could benefit in several ways, such as increased trade and economic cooperation with member states, particularly with China and Russia.
It could also gain a stronger voice in regional security issues and access to the SCO’s anti-terrorism framework.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia could help the organization expand its influence in the Middle East and increase its strategic weight in global affairs.
This is definitely a result of straining its ties with Washington.

The SCO is primarily a geopolitical and security organisation with limited infrastructures to pursue economic integration.
The group accounts for about one-third of the world’s land and exports trillions of dollars annually.
It is governed by consensus, which limits the scope of major cooperation between its member states.
It also functions more as a venue for discussion and engagement where high-level dignitaries from across the region can gather to confer, rather than an alliance like the EU, whose members have a common currency, or NATO.