Syria and Iran have signed several agreements in the oil, electricity and industrial sectors, SANA reported.
The agreements were signed by Syria's electricity minister Imad Khamis, industry minister Kamal al-Din Toma and secretary general of the cabinet, Tayseer al-Zoubi and head of the Iranian-Syrian Economic Development Relations’ Committee, Rostam Qasemi, on the Iranian side. Syria’s Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi also met on Tuesday with Qasemi, the report added.
The two sides agreed on the continuation of providing Syria with the Iranian crude oil to meet its needs, ensuring the entire requirements of electricity sector from the Iranian industry, and reviewing the previous free zone trade agreement to reduce the customs fees in the near future to zero percent, al-Zoubi said.
The joint economic cooperation agreement signed last March has entered into force, al-Zoubi said, adding that a central and sub-committees were formed to activate working on the agreement.
In recent years, Iran has constructed several new power stations in Syria and carried out overhaul operations in some power plants in the war-stricken country. The ongoing projects include Tishreen thermal power station, with a capacity of 450 megawatts, and a project financed by Mapna Group to construct a power generating station in Syria at a cost of 400 million euros.
Iran has begun to compensate for the power shortage in Syria, which suffers from significant losses due to violence. Under an agreement signed in 2011, Iran exports 250 megawatts of electricity to Syria.
Iran is currently exporting electricity to other countries, including Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Pakistan.
