The Syrian charge de affairs to Iran Ali Seyyed Ahmad made the remarks in a joint meeting between the Iranian and Syrian economic agents in Iran Chamber of Cooperative in Tehran on Monday.
Seyyed Ahmad stressed that the Syrian government is committed to expansion of trade relations with Iran, inviting Iranian economic agents to invest in Syria.
He said that Syria has now entered its reconstruction period, adding that Syria’s reconstruction needs billions of dollars.
The Syrian charge de affairs further called for enhancing level of economic cooperation between Iran Syria to the same level as the current bilateral political relations. He estimated the current level of Iran-Syria bilateral trade to be at $ 200 million, describing it very low that needs to get much higher.
He further referred to the barriers to development of bilateral trade relations, saying that financing the exports and opening letters of credit at each other ‘s banks using local currencies are obstacles that need to be resolved.
Seyyed Ahmad went on to say that Syria and Iran are both under foreign sanctions, adding the two countries have the right to hold bilateral meeting on removing barriers to their trade.
He noted that there are 4% duties between the two countries, saying that the two sides are planning to remove all customs duties altogether in the near future.
