Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Global South strategic cooperation

Asia has alternative to SWIFT – media​

The global shift away from the Western-based payment network, now used as a sanctions tool, has been gathering pace


The Asian Clearing Union (ACU) – a nine-member group of central banks including those of India, Pakistan and Iran – has decided to launch a new cross-border financial messaging system in June, as an alternative to SWIFT, according to the Iranian newspaper Kayhan.
The daily cited Central Bank of Iran deputy governor Mohsen Karimi as saying the new payment system is capable of completely replacing SWIFT and could facilitate the global de-dollarization push.

The regulator reportedly stated last week that the new financial system will be used only by ACU member-states, but that others, including sanctioned countries like Syria, could apply for membership. Belarus and Mauritius have already reportedly reached out to the union.

Speaking at the ACU meeting in Tehran last week, Central Bank of Iran governor Mohammad Reza Farzin claimed that dropping the US dollar would help to protect member states’ foreign exchange reserves while still enabling effective settlement of bilateral trade deals.
Iran’s economy minister recently revealed that less than 10% of the US-sanctioned country’s international trade was being conducted using the dollar, down from 30% two years ago.

Russia started developing its own national payment system when the US first targeted the country with sanctions in 2014. Last year, when Moscow was hit by further sanctions in response to its military operation in Ukraine, including the blocking of many Russian banks from SWIFT, the government started promoting the domestic system as a reliable alternative. Russia’s SPFS ensures the transfer of financial messages between banks both inside and outside the country. According to the Russian Central Bank, the system now has 469 participants, including 115 foreign entities from 14 nations.

no idea if this is true. But if true, this is a huge development.

i'm eagerly waiting to see what this Argentina relationship will turn out like.

they are basically trading money to Argentina for access and influence.

Iraq wants China to be ‘major participant’ in project linking West Asia to Europe

Baghdad's recently announced $17bn transport project seeks to transform Iraq's economy after decades of war and occupation

By News Desk - June 03 2023


(Photo Credit: Anadolu Agency)

Iraqi Transport Minister Razzaq al-Saadawi says he expects China to be a major participant in a $17 billion that seeks to link West Asia and Europe and make Iraq a regional transportation hub.

“The Iraqi government welcomes China’s participation in the Development Road project, whether in implementation or investment,” Saadawi said in a statement after meeting Chinese Ambassador Cui Wei on 31 May.

“Our government welcomes the participation of Beijing in the Development Road project, and the door is open to all countries to take part, first and foremost China,” the Iraqi official stressed, adding that the Chinese ambassador had shown “clear interest in knowing many of the details and components.”

On Thursday, Wei met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, telling him that the “Development Road project is very important to Iraq, it will be a path for peace and prosperity in the region and will be complementary to Belt and Road initiative.”

The Development Road project, linking the under-construction Al-Faw port on the Gulf coast to Iraq’s northern border with Turkiye, is intended to transform Iraq’s economy after decades of war and crisis.

It involves the construction of 1,200km of railway lines and a new motorway that will reduce transport costs and transit times between the two continents.

Sudani announced the project on 27 May during a conference with transport ministry representatives from Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkiye, and the UAE.

“We see this project as a pillar of a sustainable non-oil economy, a link that serves Iraq’s neighbors and the region, and a contribution to economic integration efforts,” the Iraqi premier said.

Following his meeting with the Chinese ambassador this week, Saadawi hinted that a second conference on the project would be held to welcome China’s involvement but did not give a date.

China is one of the biggest buyers of Iraq’s oil and one of its main trading partners. Trade between the two nations reached $53.37 billion last year, an increase of 43 percent from 2021.

Iraq was the largest beneficiary in West Asia of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2021, receiving more than $10.5 billion in investment.

Earlier this year, the Iraqi central bank announced it would allow trade from China to be directly in yuan instead of the US dollar.

Alright, now Argentina joins BRI.

and that will lead to Argentina buying more Chinese stuff including railway products

overall, quite interesting the projects they signed here
note, the lithium project & solar park, all power sector.

China seems to want to take over power sector in many countries..

also present is Huawei, Zte, Xiaomi, Didi. interesting. A lot of Chinese companies there

My fear is what happens after their election

tphuang said:

My fear is what happens after their election

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Argentina will default. Many have tried saving Argentina from itself. But they're just going to do socialism with Latin American characteristics again and give the money to pensioners and the unemployed and then beg for more

It's strange to see people betting on Argentina again and again. It will always lead to the same ending

If you still believe the problem with Argentina's debt is socialism, perhaps you should watch this video.

The debt was majorly contracted by the Macri right wing government when it was in power when it asked for a huge IMF loan, in an attempt to buy the election, and the money was used for massive graft and quickly circulated out of Argentina. Under left wing "socialist" governments the debt was consistently shrinking.
This is nothing new really, the US did the same thing with Yeltsin in Russia in the 1990s.

interesting commentary here. EU wants to basically cut things off with Russia and bring Kazakhstan into the fold.
imo, the implication is that longer term, Russia is at a weak position wrt China, because China doesn't need to pick solutions that favors Russia. In fact, going through Central Asian countries is probably more favorable

South Caucasus isn't talked about a lot, but they are part of the discussion when it comes to middle corridor. Keep in mind that their function is not just as a transportation corridor, but also as manufacturing/final assembly base for Chinese companies to avoid tariffs going into Europe

Commerce between China and Russia continue to grow

We will see what happens with the new Thai govt but China's offer of transferring high speed tech must be quite tempting.
part of the goal here is to change tracks to China's standard gauge

Among the issues on the table were China’s high-speed railway standards, which are not always compatible with international norms and had to be reviewed and evaluated by Thai officials to ensure they met the country’s safety and regulatory requirements.

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The center route is no replacement for the northern or southern routes. You need to load the cargo into boats and cross the Caspian Sea in the middle of the route. It is enough of a problem having to switch track gauge on the rail line as it is, let alone if you have to use boats as well.

You are also depending on Azerbaijan as the link on the other side of the Caspian. And given Azerbaijan-Armenian tensions it is unknown how stable that link will be either.

Honduras president visited Dilma Rousseff in Shanghai for application to NDB
This having former Brazilian President as head of NDB is working out brilliantly. All the Latin American countries are seeking it out

Again, China showing itself on the side of Palestinians is always a major plus in Arab countries

If you are ever worried that Lula will turn around and embrace neoliberals, just consider this on how US DOJ screwed him and his party back in 2015

So Turkey is now owing money to GCC countries. Who is it going to ask for money from next? And yes, I do believe Turkey taking money from Saudis mean that Saudis don't have Turkey