The Iran-Turkey Trade Conference, described as one of the biggest joint forums of the two countries in recent years, was held on Friday in Istanbul.
Organized jointly by Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board and the Institute for Trade Studies and Research of Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, the forum hosted industrialists from both countries, including a 125-member Iranian trade delegation, Iran’s Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bigdeli, Iran’s Consul General in Istanbul Mohsen Mortezaeifar and Iran’s Commercial Attaché in Ankara Hamid Zadboum.
“To reach the set goal of $30 billion in annual trade, customs, transportation and banking relations of the two countries need to improve and their private sectors should boost their economic exchanges to $25 billion,” Bigdeli said in his address to the forum.
“The recent drop in trade between the two countries is largely to blame on the global tumbling oil prices. Aside from that, economic relations are running their normal course,” Zadboum said.
He also announced that the second meeting of the Preferential Trade Agreement Committee will be held in Ankara this week and the two sides will discuss the implementation process of the PTA they are signatory to as well as the addition of 15 to 25 items to the list of goods subjected to the agreement.
Based on the PTA signed by Iran’s Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci on December 31, 2014, tariffs on 125 Iranian goods have been lowered in Turkey’s favor and those of 140 Turkish goods reduced in favor of Iran.
According to the latest report by Turkey’s statistical institute, the 10-month period ending October 2015 saw trade between Tehran and Ankara decline by 26.77% to stand at $8.221 billion compared with the similar period of last year.
Turkey’s exports to Iran rose 3.9% to hit $2.986 billion and its imports from Iran fell by 37.3% to hover around $5.235 billion.
