Economy, Domestic Economy
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Iran-Russia Economic Commission to Convene

Iran-Russia Economic Commission to Convene
Iran-Russia Economic Commission to Convene

The 13th meeting of Iran-Russia Economic Commission will be held in Tehran on December 13. 

The two sides will survey ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in a wide range of fields, including energy, agriculture, banking, transportation, education and aerospace, IRNA reported.

The previous meeting of the joint commission was held in Moscow on November 12, 2015, when Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who co-chaired the session, signed several agreements on energy, maritime and banking cooperation. 

“The MoUs concerned air-sea search and rescue, fighting marine pollution, exploration of water resources, interbank financing and cooperation in electricity generation among others,” Vaezi said in a rundown on his Russia visit.

Around 280 Russian organizations and companies, and 60 representatives from Iran’s public and private sectors held meetings on the sidelines of the joint commission from November 10 to 12, 2015.

According to the Iranian minister, the two sides vowed to raise bilateral trade to an ambitious rate of $40 billion per year based on a roadmap devised on the final day.

During Vaezi’s visit to Moscow, other key issues, including Russia’s plan to open a $5 billion credit line for Iran, the idea of establishing a joint bank, Iran’s membership in the Eurasian Development Bank and the use of national currencies in two-way trade, were also discussed.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration’s data on Iran-Russia non-oil trade during 2005-15 show mutual commerce peaked in the Iranian year to March 2009. The figure started a downtrend for two consecutive years after the European Union and the US intensified sanctions on Iran in 2010.

Despite a rebound in trade during the Iranian year to March 2014, the figure declined during President Hassan Rouhani’s administration. 

IRICA’s latest statistics show bilateral non-oil trade saw a 50% rise during the seven months to October 21, owing to increased imports from Russia.

Iran exported 150,000 tons of non-oil goods worth $86.5 million to Russia during the seven-month period, registering a 6% decline in value compared with the similar period of a year before. Food supplement, fruit and vegetable, raisins, dates, tomato paste, pistachio, carpets, petrochemicals and cement were among the main exported commodities.

Meanwhile, 890,000 tons of goods worth $1.1 billion were imported from the Caspian neighbor, recording a rise of 235% in value year-on-year. The main imports included electronic devices, grain, corn fodder, wood, paper and vehicles.

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