A joint exhibition and first B2B forum between Iranian and Syrian businesses is scheduled to be held in Tehran on May 24 and 25, according to the Iran-Syria Chamber of Commerce.
A high-ranking delegation from Syria is expected to attend the event where Iranian and Syrian businesspeople and producers will showcase their products and services in food, agriculture and animal husbandry, construction material and equipment, technical and engineering services, industrial, medical equipment, pharmaceutical, automotive spare parts, agro machinery, oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
Economic players interested in participating in the event may call (+9821) 66563118, (+9821) 66563164 or (+9821) 85732195 to gain more information.
Trade in Review
Latest data show $73 million worth of commodities were exported from Iran to Syria during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Nov. 20, 2020).
“Syria, in return, exported close to $10 million worth of goods to Iran over the same period,” according to Director General of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Arab and African Affairs Department Farzad Piltan.
Last year (March 2019-20), he added, trade between Iran and Syria hit $170 million, with Iran’s exports accounting for $160 million of the total sum.
“Our main exported products last year were auto spare parts, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel bars, pipes and profile, gas turbine parts, copper wires, electrical conductors, infant formula, pistachio, faucets, sodium carbonate and yeasts while our imports mainly included phosphate, olive oil, vegetables, fruit and textile.”
Piltan noted that until the fiscal 2010-11, bilateral trade stood at $550 million.
“Our exports accounted for $520 million of the overall trade and the remaining $30 million were Syrian exports to Iran. However, trade figures took a downturn until the fiscal 2018-19, when they picked up again and reached $105 million,” he said.
Though Iran-Syria trade declined due to a conflict in that country, yet, hefty infrastructural damages inflicted upon many Syrian cities have prepared the ground for renewed cooperation in the field of technical and engineering services in which Iran has a competitive edge.
“Over the decade between 2008-19, Iran’s exports of technical and engineering services to Syria exceeded $2.2 billion. These include, but are not limited to, the launch of automotive production lines; construction of electrical substations, bridges, refineries, silos and oil refineries; establishment of starch production lines and power plants, as well as cement, glass and flour production factories; and the design and installation of electrical transformers and water facilities,” he said.
Free Trade
The TPO official said Tehran and Damascus have a free trade agreement in place, which can have a significant effect on easing trade between the two sides, adding that Syria’s high demand in agricultural products, food, home appliances, pharmaceuticals, construction material, sanitaryware, agro machinery and equipment, and Iran’s capabilities in these areas, coupled with reasonable prices and high quality can pave the way for boosting commercial interactions between the two sides.
Syria and Iran concluded a free trade agreement in February 2012, which included reducing customs duties to 4% on goods traded between the two countries, cancelling all quantitative restrictions and lifting the ban on imports with immediate effect.
The agreement, which came into force on March 12, 2012, allowed commercial trucks to pass between the two countries through Iraq.
$1b Credit Line
In May 2015, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad signed a law ratifying a $1 billion credit line from Iran.
The Syrian news agency SANA reported that the two government-owned banks, namely the Syrian Commercial Bank of Syria and Export Development Bank of Iran, signed a credit line agreement to help Syria buy goods and fund projects.
Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis signed 11 agreements in various fields with Iran’s First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri, during the latter’s visit to Syria in January 2019.
The agreements pertained top rail infrastructure, housing, public works, geomatics, investment, anti-money laundering, cultural and educational cooperation, in addition to a memorandum of understanding for cinematic collaboration between the National Film Organization in Syria and Iranian Organization of Cinema and Audiovisual Affairs, according to SANA.
The Syrian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors trade agreements between Iran and the Syrian government, was founded in January 2019.
The chamber is in contract with an Iranian company to export Syrian olive oil to Iran, which could reach 5,000 tons annually.
A meeting between the officials of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture and those of Damascus Chamber of Commerce in Tehran last year resulted in a set of new agreements between the governments of Syria and Iran in various fields.
During the meeting, deputy chairman of the Syrian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Fahad Darwish, announcled the completion of the Iranian center in the Damascus free zone and announced that two other centers will be established, Syrian nonprofit media organization, Enab Baladi, reported.
The Syrian official said the Iranian trade center in Damascus free zone is ready to receive Iranian goods and distribute them in Syria and the neighboring countries, and that the center is likely to start operating within three months.
Darwish also announced the establishment of two joint free zones between Syria and Iran in the town of Hasya in the province of Homs and the province of Latakia, according to al-Watan newspaper.
