TEHRAN: Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will visit Iran which is scheduled for second half of first month of next Iranian calendar year (March 21-April 4) and discussion would be about the expansion of trade ties between two nations.
Turkish Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz said Iranian and Turkish presidents will discuss energy, tourism, banking, finance, and other issues during the second meeting of the Iran-Turkey joint economic commission.
Yilmaz made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi in Tehran.
In January 2014, Iran and Turkey signed a preferential trade agreement with the goal of boosting bilateral trade. According to the agreement, 125 items of Iranian goods and 140 items of Turkish goods will be traded based on preferential tariffs as of January 1, 2015, when the agreement went into force.
Preferential trade agreement is a pact that reduces tariffs for certain products to the countries who sign it. While the tariffs are not necessarily eliminated, they are lower than countries not party to the agreement. It is a form of economic integration.
In September 2014, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said boosting trade ties with Iran is Turkey’s top priority.
Turkey plans to raise its trade with Iran to $35 billion in 2015, he added.
Trade between Iran and Turkey jumped sharply in 2013 compared to the decade ending in 2012.
Turkey’s exports to Iran amounted to $4 billion in 2013, a sharp rise from the $800 million in exports in the entire decade from 2003 to 2012, according to the Turkish Exporters Assembly.
