Moscow businesses increase exports to the SCO countries with the city’s support

In the first six months of this year, Moscow increased its non-resource non-energy exports (NRE) to the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) by more than 23 percent compared to the same period in 2024. The share of the SCO countries in the total scope of the capital’s NREs to friendly countries amounted to more than 51 percent.

Moscow’s exports to the SCO countries show steady growth. The key partner of Moscow in the first six months of 2025 was the Republic of Belarus, which accounts for about one third of the capital’s total exports to the markets of the SCO member states. Kazakhstan, China and India are also among the leaders.

In the first six months of 2025, Moscow exports of high-tech products to the SCO countries grew by 26.2 percent. Exports of goods from the medical and pharmaceutical industry increased by 31.2 percent, light industry by 30.7 percent, non-metallic materials and products by 21 percent, and electronics and electrical engineering by 20.6 percent.

Moscow entrepreneurs have access to a wide range of support measures for the development in international markets thanks to the Moscow Export Center (MEC), subordinate to the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development. These measures include training and preparation for doing business in global markets, promotion and sales assistance abroad, and financial instruments as grants and pre-export soft loans.

“In the first six months of 2025, the scope of export contracts with partners in the SCO countries, concluded under support of the MEC, increased by 12.3 percent compared with the equivalent period last year, and amounted to eight billion rubles. We will continue our work to support the capital’s exporters who represent their products and city abroad, including in the markets of our partners from the SCO countries,” Vitaly Stepanov, General Director of the Moscow Export Center, says.

The Moscow Export Center pays special attention to personalized support for the capital’s entrepreneurs in the SCO countries. The MEC ambassadors work in China and Iran and they are well-versed in the peculiarities of doing business in these countries. They not only help find potential partners and assist in transactions, but also provide a deep insight into the local business environment. Their work significantly accelerates the process of Moscow companies’ expansion into new markets.

In addition, the Moscow Export Center regularly conducts business missions, including reverse missions, which facilitate the expansion of Moscow businesses into the markets of the SCO countries. During 2025, business missions to Iran, Kazakhstan, China, India and Pakistan were held, as well as a reverse business mission with partners from the Republic of Belarus. Three more partner missions to the SCO countries — China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan — are scheduled to take place before the end of the year.

As a result of participation in last year’s business mission to Uzbekistan, the capital company Multipass signed a contract for the supply of validators for contactless payment in public transport in Tashkent.

One of the MEC’s priority areas is to help the capital’s high-tech companies to enter foreign markets. For example, in 2025 the Moscow-based company WSS-Consulting provided software development and support services worth 11.5 million rubles to a Kazakh company. The contract was awarded thanks to the support of the MEC.

The Moscow Export Center was established by the Moscow City Government in 2017 to provide the city’s entrepreneurs with financial and non-financial support measures to promote the capital’s goods and services in foreign markets. One of its key objectives is to increase the number of Moscow’s exporters and also boost their revenue. Today the MEC provides Moscow-based businesses with comprehensive support at all stages of their business — from education and training in foreign economic activity (FEA) to the promotion of enterprises abroad, the provision of sales support and financial assistance for FEA following the conclusion of export contracts. The MEC currently offers more than 30 support measures.