TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran and Ankara explored ways for broadening economic ties during a trade forum which was held at Tehran Chamber of Commerce in presence of Iranian businessmen and a trade delegation led by President of the Association of Businessmen and Entrepreneurs of Turkey TUMKIAD Mr. Nihat Tanrikulu.
In the opening of the forum, Head of international department of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Mr. Hesamudin Hallaj pointed to the historic relation between Iran and Turkey and said that despite geopolitical and geo-economic competitions, Turkey attaches importance for its ties with Tehran and for this reason both sides should work to elevate the level of current economic cooperation.
He then pointed to the drop in the place of Turkey’s trade partner rankings, adding that in the past, Iran was Turkey’s fourth to eight trade partner but this place has been reduced to the 20th and talks between economic activists of the two countries in the events like this can provide more opportunities for increasing the exchanges.
He noted that this is the first Turkish trade delegation visiting Tehran in the post-coronavirus era and expressed hope that Tehran Chamber of Commerce would host more delegations from Turkey in the future.
Then Seyedeh Fatemeh Moghimi, a member of the presiding board of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, in her speech pointed to the commonalities of the two countries in different fields like cultural, political, economic, historical and religious and called for close cooperation between Iran and Turkey for taking advantage of opportunities.
She added that Turkey is a gateway for Iran’s economic ties with Europe and Iran is also a corridor for connecting Turkey to the Silk Road, CIS region and India, adding that using these capacities can bring interests for both states.
Moghimi added that joint investments and exports of the jointly-produced exports to the third party countries in some industries like in the field of home appliances, chemical industries, auto, furniture, wood industries can be of the solutions for broadening cooperation and added that of course this point should be considered that reinforcement of trade exchanges will be impossible without improving the infrastructure of the transportation and development of the infrastructures should be taken into consideration by the two side.
She then pointed to the current condition of the trade between Iran and Turkey and said that Iran’s exports to Turkey increased from $3.247b in six years ago to $6.07b last year and Iran’s imports from Turkey have increased from $2.724b to $5.158b in the same period. She added that but Iran ranks 19th among exporting countries to Turkey and the country ranks 36th among Turkey export destinations.
She then announced readiness of Tehran Chamber of Commerce with its some 30,000 members for any cooperation for deepening economic cooperation with Turkey.
Then President of TUMKIAD Mr. Tanrikulu, for his part, said that Turkey can be a bridge between Iran and Europe, adding that despite sanctions against Iran and restrictions because of the sanctions, Turkey seeks to broaden its relations with Iran. He added that in fact both sides can produce new products and export to new markets like Europe through joint cooperation and this strategy can lead to boom in economy of both states.
He stated that Turkey is keen to use experiences of Iran in some fields, adding that the association wants to improve trade ties with Iran because both countries have great potentials and are hungry for greater activities.
Then Head of Iran-Turkey Chamber of Commerce Mr. Mehrdad Saadat, for his part, talked about the current condition of trade between Iran and Turkey and hailed Turkish traders for setting record of $225 exports in the coronavirus era. He then pointed to some hurdles in way of trade between Ira and Turkey and said getting 6% double tax from Iranian goods is one of major hurdles in way of developing Iran’s exports.
