Erdogan: Iran-Turkey trade to hit $30b soon
October 21, 2017 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expects trade with Iran t reach the $30-billion mark 'soon' as the two regional powers shore up relations on multiple fronts.
"Given the large-scale planning underway, we will soon reach $30 billion in trade transactions between the two countries," the Turkish leader told visiting Iranian First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri in Istanbul late Friday, IRNA reported.
Jahangiri was in Turkey to take part in a summit of Developing-8 countries, during which the central banks of the two countries also formally agreed to trade in national currencies.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said trading in national currencies would help improve economic ties by making dealings easier and raising the volume and diversity in trade.
Bilateral trade currently stands at $10 billion, down from $22 billion in 2012, with intensified sanctions on the Islamic Republic being the main cause of the slump.
Since the lifting of the sanctions in January 2016, Iran and Turkey have stepped up efforts to boost bilateral trade and signed a number of agreements to this effect.
In August, the Turkish firm Unit International said it had signed a $7-billion agreement with Russia's state-owned Zarubezhneft and Iran's Ghadir Investment Holding to drill for oil and natural gas in Iran.
Turkey is the biggest purchaser of Iran's natural gas and a major Iranian oil importer. Erdogan said on Friday his country is interested in buying more oil from the Islamic Republic.
According to Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory statistics, the country imported 225,800 barrels per day of oil from Iran on average between January and April.
Iran is also Turkey's second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia and sells about 10 billion cubic meters a year of gas under a 25-year supply deal.
Earlier this month, President Hassan Rouhani said at a joint press conference with Erdogan in Tehran that Iran would pump more natural gas to Turkey as part of the Islamic Republic's plans to expand economic ties with its neighbor.
"We are ready to increase oil and gas exports to Turkey and guarantee the country's need for energy," Jahangiri said on Friday.
The Turkish president said the two countries needed to remove obstacles and use joint potentials, experiences and capacities to improve cooperation.
Jahangiri called for expediting the implementation of the agreement to use national currencies in trade and for the border terminals to offer 24-hour service, in addition to activating the private sector and facilitating banking and customs processes.
"Iran and Turkey, as the two great countries of the region, have vast capabilities and capacities that should be used to develop and consolidate their relations," he noted.
The two countries are also cooperating on easing an economic stranglehold by Saudi Arabia and its allies on the Persian Gulf state of Qatar.
Turkey and Iran were quick to fly food and other commodities and then agreed on a land route to export goods to Qatar after it came under an economic blockade of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in June.
On Friday, Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi said a trilateral transit agreement had been signed with Turkey and Qatar for transporting Turkish goods through Iran to the Arab state.
Meanwhile, Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari and Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci agreed to hold a meeting of Iran-Turkey joint economic commission in Tehran next month.
Meeting in Ankara, Shariatmadari and Zeybekci held talks on a range of issues, including ways to boost relations between Iran and Turkey in economic fields.
The two ministers also agreed to convene the joint economic commission meeting in Tehran next month and hold an exhibition of Iranian products in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The Iran Solo Exhibition will open on October 25 and continue until October 28, according to the commercial attaché of the Iranian Embassy in Turkey, Hamid Zadboum.
The event will be open to the public after an official inaugural ceremony attended by senior Iranian and Turkish officials, he said.
Iranian companies involved in sectors such as oil, gas and petrochemicals, automotive and spare parts, aerospace industries, wood and cellulose industries, metal industries, food industry, agricultural products, mining and mineral industries, construction materials, ceramic tiles, household appliances, cultural products and arts and crafts, banking, transportation, tourism, free zones and textile industries, are expected to participate in the exhibition.