To boost exports and facilitate trade, Iranian and Turkish banking officials have arrived at a “bilateral payment arrangement” whereby the banking procedures between the countries will be carried out in their domestic currencies, i.e. Iranian rial and Turkish lira, announced director general of the Commerce Services Office of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization.
Farhad Nouri called on economic players and traders to seize this opportunity to ease trade and referred them to EN Bank, Bank Pasargad, Parsian Bank, Karafarin Bank, Saman Bank and Bank Maskan for details of the mechanism.
This comes as head of Iran-Turkey Trade Council, Reza Kami, says talks on BPA between the two countries date back to two years and the agreement has been in effect for a year now.
“There is even the chance of opening L/Cs for imports of certain goods from Turkey by using local currency,” ISNA quoted Nouri as saying.
> Iran-Turkey PTA Anniversary
One year into the implementation of Iran-Turkey Preferential Trade Agreement, trade balance between the two countries is in favor of Iran, according to the head of Commerce Education Center of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, Abbas Khaleqifar.
Khaleqifar added that the positive trade balance is mainly due to Iran’s gas and oil exports.
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.
He, however, noted that Iran’s share of Turkey’s annual $250-billion imports is as little as 5%.
Khaleqifar viewed Turkey as a reliable trade partner for Iran and said the neighboring country is the best route for transferring goods to the European market.
Iranian officials are hopeful that the PTA with Turkey will increase two-way trade to $30 billion from the current $15 billion.
“Iran and Turkey should have cooperation in tandem with competition. This would help us win the 500-million market of the region,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
Iran-Turkey Economic Confab
Khaleqifar also announced that Iranian and Turkish high-ranking officials, ambassadors and commercial attachés will come together in Istanbul for the biggest economic forum dubbed “Iran-Turkey Effective Trade Conference” scheduled for December 3-6.
“Face-to-face negotiations with Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, exchange of experience and technology, and specialized tours of Turkish industries as well as visits to three international exhibitions are among the additional programs planned on the sidelines of the conference,” he concluded.
