The 15th Caspian Sea littoral states’ chambers of commerce summit was held in the port city of Anzali in northern Gilan Province April 29-30. According to IRNA, heads of chambers of commerce, officials and business owners from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan as well as Iran attended the event.
Head of Anzali Free Trade Zone Organization (AFTZO) Reza Masrour said the summit was aimed at increasing cooperation among the participating states with a focus on AFTZ’s potential role in expanding multilateral trade. The official highlighted the government’s plan to transform AFTZ into a major trade hub in Central Asia and the Caucasus region and a leading export hub for domestic products as well.
He also referred to the meeting as a step towards the establishment of Cooperation Council of Free Economic Zones, as proposed by Iran with the aim of arriving at multilateral Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) among the five Caspian states.
Head of the export commission of Iran’s chamber of commerce Asadollah Asgaroladi underlined Russia’s name among other states attending the summit, announcing that another meeting will be held in Iran’s chamber of commerce office early in May, in order to exclusively assess the commercial relations with Russia for the next 5 years based on the 6th Five-Year Economic Development Plan, Eghtesad News reported.
Also addressing the summit, Russian consulate general in Gilan, Maxim Baranov, expressed hope that the recent reduction in Caspian Sea littoral states’ trade tariffs on aquatic products from 26 percent to 7 percent will boost multilateral trade.
