ASTANA, July 4. /TASS/. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed to create an investment fund within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he said at the opening of the SCO summit on Tuesday.

"I propose to instruct the Council of Heads of Government to consider the possibility of creating a joint investment fund and make proposals on this important project," he said.

During the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Tokayev also proposed to agree on its energy strategy for the next meeting of the leaders of the countries of the association in 2024 in Astana.

The SCO officially announced Iran's membership in the organization earlier on Tuesday. The Islamic Republic became the ninth member of the organization. The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001.

All member states of the organization take part in the SCO summit in New Delhi. Iran, Belarus and Mongolia are invited as observers. Turkmenistan participates as a guest. The summit is also attended by the heads of two bodies of the organization - the Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. The heads of six international and regional organizations - the UN, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EAEU, and CICA - are also invited.