‘Iran-Turkey trade hits $7.5b’
The volume of annual trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey has reached $7.5 billion, indicating a growing trend in Tehran-Ankara economic interactions, a Turkish official says.
The economic counselor of the Turkish embassy in Tehran made the remarks at a meeting between Turkish Muslim businessmen and Iranian traders in Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines (ICCIM) on Tuesday, Fars news agency reported.
He went on to say that Turkey and Iran have planned to increase their trade transactions to $30 billion by 2015.
Earlier in the day, ICCIM Chairman Mohammad Nahavandian and Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarciklioglu signed an agreement to increase trade cooperation between Iranian and Turkish companies.
The two officials also agreed to organize an event to increase competition among the companies of members of Islamic Chambers of Commerce and Industry with the cooperation of ICCIM and TOBB.
Nahavandian arrived in Turkey on Tuesday at the helm of a delegation. During the three-day visit Iranian and Turkish officials will hold meetings to discuss the mutual economic relations, including the standardization of halal products, tourism and banking.
Also on Tuesday, Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Bahman Hosseinpour said Tehran wants to increase trade via Turkish ports and shift a large part of its trade from ports of the Persian Gulf to Turkish ports on the Black Sea and Mediterranean.
The Iranian envoy made the remarks visiting Turkey’s Black Sea coast as part of a fact-finding mission on the facilities available at Turkish ports.
“We want to transfer a large portion of our trade from the Persian Gulf… to Turkey,” the Turkish Anatolian news agency quoted Hosseinpour as saying.
The envoy, who also visited Mersin on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast and the Black Sea ports of Trabzon and Samsun, said the officials of both countries have voiced support for the plans.
In October 2009, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan agreed to increase the level of their annual trade exchanges to $30 billion within the coming 4 to 5 years.
Iran and Turkey have very close trade and economic relations. Both countries are part of the Economic Cooperation Organization. Turkey receives many Iranian tourists each year.
In early October, Turkish President Abdullah Gul voiced Ankara’s determination to boost trade ties with Iran, despite the US pressure to halt trade with the Islamic Republic, calling for more agreements between the two neighboring countries to improve the bilateral trade ties.
(Source: Press TV)