Iran and Turkey plan to expand their economic relations

Almaty. April 8. Silkroadnews - Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Minister of Economy of Turkey Mustafa Elitas discussed in Tehran issues of expansion of the economic relations between the two countries, Trend reports.

The Iranian minister said the countries can increase trade turnover up to $30 billion a year.
In his turn, M. Elitas said his country hopes to strengthen the economic cooperation with Iran and expand the trade relations between their countries.

Bilateral trade turnover between Iran and Turkey amounted to about $10 billion in 2015. This number has been steadily declining since 2012, when it reached $22 billion.
The two countries have an agreement on trade preferences entered into force on January 1, 2015. According to the agreement, the customs duties on the import of 125 types of goods from Iran has been reduced along with customs duties on the import of 140 types of Turkish goods brought to Iran. Many Iranian producers do not seem to be happy with the agreement, as it promotes the import of finished industrial products from Turkey, thus, generating losses for the local producers, Trend reports.

Turkey is the biggest buyer of the Iranian gas. According to the long-term contract valid till 2026, Iran delivers to Turkey 30 million cubic meters of gas per day. These deliveries meet about 30% of Turkey’s gas needs. Ankara has repeatedly stated it intends to increase gas supplies from Iran. However, according to the Iranian experts and representatives of gas and pipeline companies, currently Iran does not have the technical potential to increase supplies significantly and building a new gas transport infrastructure may take up to 10 years, Trend says.