Iran, Turkey mull ways and means of expanding bilateral ties

During a meeting held of the Turkish side of Iran-Turkey Trade Council and Iran’s new ambassador to Turkey Mohammad-Ebrahim Taherian on April 26, Tehran and Ankara have discussed lifting impediments on the way of cooperation of Iranian and Turkish private sectors.

After recent visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Turkey, the two sides exchanged views on ways and means of expanding bilateral cooperation in a new atmosphere.

Taherian said that Iranian and Turkish senior officials have always been emphasizing importance of expansion of commercial and economic relations to achieve the $30-billion target with promotion of cooperation between their private sectors having the priority.

Iran is ready to benefit from Turkey’s experience in various economic sectors and support relations between Iranian and Turkish private sectors in a comprehensive manner.

Earlier, Rouhani urged the two countries’ private sectors to make mutual investments to the export of joint products to third-parties, and also invited Turkish companies to invest in the infrastructure of Iran’s tourism sector.

Iran and Turkey, which enjoy grounds for boosting cooperation in various areas, are keen to expand multifaceted ties.

Turkey, which is keen to give a new impetus to its trade ties with neighboring Iran following removal of international sanctions, intends to take the rising golden opportunity in Iran’s economy and to play a more active role on the Islamic Republic’s market by its private sector.

The trade turnover between Turkey and Iran stood at $22 billion in 2012 before dipping to $14.5 billion in the following year due to the economic sanctions imposed on Tehran by the West.

Trade turnover between the two countries stood at $13.71 billion in 2014 and $9.76 billion in 2015. Currently, Tehran and Ankara intend to raise their bilateral trade to $30 billion per year.

Being the Middle East’s two powerful players, Iran and Turkey share very close economic ties. The Iranian market promises a huge opportunity to Turkey in various sectors, including clothing, textiles, machinery, tourism, automotive industry, chemistry, petrochemistry and energy industry, as well as banking, telecommunications and transportation.