Tehran, Iran, June 30
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, A. Shirazi - Trend:
Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari said his country was interested in signing preferential trade agreements with its neighbors and Asian nations.
“Of the 10 major export destinations of Iran’s products, Asian nations and the country’s neighbors make up 7 of them,” Shariatmadari told Trend on June 30.
He added that Tehran has decided to strike preferential trade agreements with these countries due to their importance and with the aim of increasing cooperation and boosting trade with them.
"Some of our neighboring countries and Asian nations are located in special geographical positions,” the minister said.
"We signed preferential trade agreements with members of the Eurasian Economic Union to enhance our ties," he said, adding similar agreements for the same purpose will be inked with Iran’s neighbors and Asian countries.
The EEU was established in 2015 based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
In 2016, Vietnam officially became the first non-regional country to join the bloc’s free trade zone, which is designed to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and workers.
Since then, more than 40 countries and international organizations, including China, Indonesia, South Korea, Egypt and India, as well as some South American countries, have expressed interest in a free trade deal with the EEU.
During the first two months of the Iranian fiscal year (March 20-May 21), Iran purchased 57 percent of its imported goods from five countries – China, UAE, South Korea, Germany and Turkey. In the meantime over 65 percent of Iran’s non-oil exports went to China, UAE, Iraq, Afghanistan and India.
