Twelve years since the idea of ‘preferential trade’ was first proposed, the country has not been able to sign a satisfactory number of contracts in this regard, Mehdi Behkish, the head of Iran’s International Chamber of Commerce said on the sidelines of the first Iranian Conference on Economy on Monday.
According to ISNA, Behkish underlined the vitality of increasing export and removing the impediments on the way of improving domestic production and expressed satisfaction about a recent preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Turkey.
He also noted that India has the potential to become Iran’s second partner in preferential trade.
In a bid to increase bilateral trade, Iran and Turkey signed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) on December 31, decreasing the customs clearance tariffs on 265 items of good. According to this agreement, the tariffs on 125 items of Iranian goods are decreased in Turkey’s favor and those of 140 Turkish goods in favor of Iran.
The preferential tariff system, which compels both countries to levy lower rates of duty on imports from each other than they do on imports from other countries, is expected to further ease transaction of goods and services between Iran and other countries.
Signing preferential trade agreements with different countries can pave the way for Iran to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Behkish predicted that if the sanctions remain intact, the country cannot reach the expected 2.5 percent economic growth and would be obliged to rely on its internal capacities.
