Tehran, EAEU Begin Talks on Free Trade Agreement
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) in a videoconference with heads of joint work groups on temporary agreement for forming free trade region between Iran and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Andrey Slepnev, the minister in charge of Trade of the EAEU, pointed to the growth in trade between Iran and EAEU after implementing the agreement and called for more cooperation.
In the videoconference, Hamid Zadboum said despite the outbreak of COVID-19 and decline in the global trade, the trade between Iran and EAEU has grown and it is an indication to the trade capacities of Iran and EAEU.
The conference was held on the anniversary of implementation of temporary agreement for forming free trade region between Iran and EAEU. Zadboum pointed to the great potentials in bilateral trade and necessity for developing cooperation and called for laying the appropriate ground in the EAEU member states in line with successful implementation of temporary agreement through improving the necessary infrastructures in the transportation, transit, banking and customs cooperation sectors.
Zadboum further said by converting the current agreement into the free trade, it is necessary the current infrastructures to be developed for reaching higher level of bilateral trade, or new infrastructures should be shaped because the current infrastructures do not meet the proper bilateral trade volume. He reiterated that developing cooperation in the transportation, banking and investment in the free zones is of very crucial.
He noted that the provided grounds for cooperation in form of agreement and its development to other economic and trade sectors like cooperation in investment, trade of services, bartering, economic and free and special zones are appropriate opportunities, and announced Iran’s proposal regarding developing investment cooperation and other grounds for cooperation and called for the other party’s opinion on this regard.
In the conference, both sides confirmed the growth in the bilateral trade after implementation of the agreement despite COVID-10 pandemic and decline in the global trade, and thanked the other side for pursuing the issues related to the agreement.
Meanwhile Andrei Slepnev pointed to the process of getting license for beginning official talks and signing the deal by the presidents of EAEU members and predicted this could materialize by December, and it is necessary till then the preliminary and advisory talks on free trade and reviewing all of its aspects to be held.
Iran and Eurasian Economic Union reached a free trade agreement in October 2018 based on which about 862 commodity items were subjected to preferential tariffs.
The interim agreement enabling the formation of a free trade area between Iran and the EAEU was signed on May 17, 2018, and officially came into force on October 27, 2019.
Iran is a very important market in the region and the development of ties with this country is of high significance for the EAEU members (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan).
