Iran, Turkey Can Boost Trade Value to $50bn

Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi said Iran and Turkey are currently trying to boost the value of their trade exchanges to $30bn per year.

“We believe the figure can increase even more reaching $50bn,” the minister said during his meeting with Turkey’s Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci in Tehran.

The Iranian official also called the meeting a constructive opportunity to expand economic and industrial ties between Tehran and Ankara and added the annual joint commission has been convened regularly.

“In our meeting, we decided to hold the 26th session of Iran-Turkey joint commission in November. The two sides are working hard to remove the obstacles to holding the meeting,” he noted, according to a Farsi report by ISNA.

Vaezi praised the preferential trade agreement between Iran and Turkey as a huge step in expansion of economic ties between the two sides.

“We need to bring about some reforms in the agreement to make it more inclusive. Meanwhile, we need to turn the agreement into a free trade agreement in the future.”

He referred to the facilitated banking relations between Iran and Turkey, saying Turkey’s Central Bank governor is expected to visit Tehran in the near future to remove the current barriers in the way of expanding bilateral ties.

Vaezi also said Iran and Turkey have agreed to hold a meeting before the joint commission’s annual meeting with the aim of discussing in detail the remaining differences on various issues.

“Expansion of ties between Iran and Turkey contributes to the regional peace and instability,” he said, stressing that Iran attaches great importance to its ties with Turkey and views the relations as an effective factor in the regional developments.

He underlined that the two sides have put discussions on energy and transportation high on their agenda.

“We as the heads of the joint commission have to take heavy responsibilities,” he noted.

He cited as important the current bilateral relations between Tehran and Ankara saying the two sides have been trying to expand their ties beyond economic fields.