Turkish Forum

Tag: Trade with Iran

  • Iran, Turkey trade hit 11 billion dollars

    Iran, Turkey trade hit 11 billion dollars

    Iran and Turkey have a trade volume of nearly $11 billion, which they hope to bring to $30 billion.

    c 150 100 16777215 0 images stories oct01 17 flag pins iran turkeyWith a young population of over 70 million, Iran has great business potential for Turkey’s rapidly growing economy.

    Still, in an effort to increase trade with each other, the two neighbors are planning to open another customs point at Dilucu-Maku.

    Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yaz?c? said over the weekend that Turkey has started work on opening nine new border gates to facilitate increasing trade with its southern and eastern neighbors.

    In remarks to the Anatolia news agency, Yaz?c? said the country will have four new border gates each opened with Iraq and Georgia and the remaining one with Iran in the next two years. The gates with Georgia will be opened in the northeastern provinces of Ardahan and Igd?r, while those with Iraq will be established in the southwestern provinces of S?rnak and Hakkari. The one with Iran will be located in the eastern province of Igd?r.

    If everything goes as planned, Turkey will have more than doubled the number of border gates it has with these three neighbors before 2014. Currently, Turkey has three border gates with Iran, two with Georgia and only one with Iraq.

    Turkey has seen its trade volume expand rapidly in the past decade in parallel to its economy’s growing competitiveness, but also thanks to its “zero problems and maximum trade with neighbors” foreign policy widely lauded both in and outside the country. It did roughly $20 billion of its over $300 billion in trade with Georgia, Iraq and Iran last year.

    (Source: todayszaman)

    via Iran, Turkey trade hit 11 billion dollars – Tehran Times.

  • Turkey: Iran sanctions affecting banking decisions

    Turkey: Iran sanctions affecting banking decisions

    By DESMOND BUTLER

    iranian bankingTurkey said Wednesday that U.S. and EU sanctions have led to hesitation by Turkish banks on doing business with Iran. But Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan told reporters in Washington that he expects overall Turkish trade with Iran to increase.

    Babacan that the Turkish government has let Turkish banks make their own decisions in the face of sanctions aimed at isolating Iran from the global financial sector. The sanctions target individuals and institutions deemed to be helping Iran develop its nuclear and missile programs.

    “Turkish banks are hesitating,” he said. “Some of them are doing business with Iran, some are pausing to decide what to do.”

    The U.S. Treasury Department’s point man on Iran sanctions, Stuart Levey, is visiting Turkey and Azerbaijan this week to discuss the sanctions with government officials and business leaders.

    Babacan said that the sanctions were hitting the Iranian economy but doubted that they were making Iran rethink its nuclear program. Turkey has opposed sanctions as ineffective and damaging to the Turkish economy, since they target an important neighbor. Babacan stressed the importance for Turkey of trade with Iran, specially in the energy sector. He pointed out the volume of Turkish exports to Iran is about the same level as exports to the United States.

    Babacan expects that trade with Iran, excluding oil and gas, will grow at a moderate pace. His boss, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said he would like to triple trade volumes in the next five years while still respecting the limits set by United Nations sanctions. That push, along with Turkey’s vote against sanctions in the U.N. Security Council has fed tensions with the West.

    But with a booming economy, Turkey has growing energy needs, particularly for natural gas. It has said it plans to boost domestic consumption of natural gas from Iran and to export Iranian gas to Europe.

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