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Iran’s seven-month trade with EAEU tops $4 billion
The value of trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-October 22) reached $4.258 billion, official statistics say.
Iran exported as much as $922 million worth of products to the five-member bloc in the mentioned period.
Iran has also imported some $3.33 billion of non-oil goods from the EAEU member countries in the time span.
Iranian officials have plans to increase trade exchanges with the EAEU to $10 billion within less than two years.
There is a preferential trade agreement (PTA) in place between Iran and the EAEU while the two sides eye to ink a free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of 2023.
Official puts Iran’s share in Afghanistan import market at 35%
The economic adviser of special envoy to Iranian president in Afghanistan affairs said that Iran has a 35 percent share in Afghanistan’s import market, which is a considerable figure in bilateral trade ties.
Speaking in an interview with IRNA, Mohammad Mehdi Javanmard Ghassab stated that Tehran and Kabul enjoy high capacities to expand bilateral trade relations, especially in the fields of technical engineering services, transportation and transit.
The economies of Iran and Afghanistan can complement each other, he said, adding that the two countries need a long-term strategic plan to take advantage of these conditions optimally.
Turning to Iran’s 35 percent share in Afghanistan's market, Javanmard Ghasab stressed that the country is seeking to export technology, technical know-how as well as technical and engineering services to Afghanistan.
Increasing the production of Iranian products in Afghanistan is also on the agenda, he emphasized.
Iran, Kazakhstan urged to ease visa requirements
Head of Iran-Kazakhstan Joint Chamber of Commerce Amir Abedi has stressed the need for joint efforts by Tehran and Astana to cancel 30-day business visas.
Noting that Kazakhstan is one the top 20 trade partners of Iran, he said that easing visa requirements is one of the main measures to help boost relations between the two countries.
Cancelling 14-day visas between Iran and Kazakhstan was one of the main demands of the private sector actors which became operational last year, Abedi said, adding that the two countries should now push for cancelling 30-day visas.
Abedi called for more investments in the ports of Astara, Caspian, Amirabad, Aktau and Kuryk, which he said would ensure further enhanced relations between the two countries in the near future.
He also referred to the eagerness of Kazakhstan to transit via Iranian southern ports across the Persian Gulf, what he believed requires further activating Iran’s bordering Inche-bron Free Zone.
Iranian trade delegation due in Tajikistan within days
A 50-member Iranian trade delegation is scheduled to visit Dushanbe, Tajikistan on November 7-12.
The visit to Tajikistan by the Iranian trade delegation will take place simultaneous with a visit to the Central Asian country by President Ebrahim Raeisi.
The dispatch of the Iranian businesspeople will be made by Iran-Tajikistan Joint Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) and the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO).
The Iranian delegation is said to be comprised of businesspeople active in the fields of construction, mining, food industry, drug and medical equipment and knowledge-based areas.
They are also going to attend a business forum of Iran and Tajikistan in Dushanbe which will be participated by senior government officials of both countries.
Iran private sector urged to invest in Afghanistan’s mining sector
Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) hosted a high-ranking Afghan delegation on Monday where the Afghan officials expressed their eagerness to make use of the potentials of the Iranian private sector.
Speaking during the meeting, the ICCIMA Vice President Payam Bagheri said that both Iran and Afghanistan enjoy many potentials for further expansion of economic and trade exchanges.
He said that the Iran Chamber of Commerce is ready to introduce the areas where the two countries can cooperate.
Urging the need for both governments to facilitate economic and trade exchanges between the two nations, he said that the banking system has to be capable of establishing financial relations.
In the meantime, Afghanistan’s acting minister of commerce Haji Nooruddin Azizi said that his country has been focusing on developing its mines.
He said that although there are many proposals for investments in Afghanistan from different countries, Kabul insists on cooperation with the Iranian companies as many Afghan mines are located near the joint border with Iran.
The Afghan minister also underlined the potentials for partnership in other areas such as agriculture, electricity, water and pharmaceuticals in Afghanistan.
He called for further activation of bordering provinces in trade activities between Iran and Afghanistan which he said would be a major step in materializing the $10 billion target for bilateral trade.
Stressing the need for “joint exports”, the Afghan minister pressed for establishment of joint industrial towns with Iran and said: “Afghanistan has a suitable workforce and Iran has electricity and gas at a reasonable price, and we can create an industrial revolution in the region.”
“Although our market is small for the Iranian products, but due to transit routes to other countries including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, exporting through Afghanistan will be cost-effective for Iran.”
Iran private sector calls for forming joint arbitration center with Tajikistan
Selahvarzi made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran with Tajikistan’s Ambassador to Iran Nizamuddin Zohidi where they discussed ways for enhancement of bilateral cooperation.
Speaking in the meeting, the Tajik ambassador said that the volume of trade between Iran and Tajikistan has grown five-fold so that it reached $239 million in 2022.
The ambassador added that Iran and Tajikistan eye a $500 million trade target for future exchanges.
Referring to an upcoming visit to Tajikistan by Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, he said that his country plans to hold an Iran-Tajikistan business forum simultaneous with President Raeisi’s Dushanbe visit.
Zohidi said that as much as 100 Tajik businesspeople will attend the business forum, expressing hope that Iran Chamber of Commerce will also help the dispatch of the same number of Iranian businesspersons to the event.
In the meantime, the president of Iran Chamber of Commerce said that the volume of trade between Iran and Tajikistan is not satisfactory yet, noting that the current bilateral exchanges are equivalent to those of ten years ago.
Selahvarzi touched upon President Raeisi’s upcoming visit to Tajikistan and said that Iran Chamber of Commerce is making efforts in line with the government measures to further expand ties with the Central Asian country.
He welcomed Tajikistan’s plans for holding a joint business forum with Iran, adding that the business forum can be a beginning of a new round of close cooperation between businesspeople of the two countries.
Iran Chamber of Commerce president calls for launching Islamic common market
President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi has stressed the need for launching an Islamic common market.
Selahvarzi was addressing the 35th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (ICCIA) in Baku on Monday.
He said that the ICCIA is the collective voice of Islamic economic actors and a source of support for trade interests of the Muslim world.
“As recommended in our religion, the more the economic and commercial cooperation between countries, the more peace and security will be established among governments and nations,” Selahvarzi said.
He added that encouraging fair and halal trade is one of the ways to strengthen friendship among nations.
Referring to the 2 billion population of the ICCIA member countries which accounts for nearly 25% of the world population and their annual $1.8 trillion foreign trade, he said that the volume of trade and economy of these countries can even grow much further.
The Iran Chamber of Commerce also urged the need for establishment of direct and effective relations between private sectors of Islamic states so as to pave the way for exchange of knowledge and experiences between entrepreneurs and businesspersons.
He reiterated the need for pushing with projects like launching an Islamic common market within a 10-year plan and setting out a proposed package for preferential trade among Islamic nations.
Iran, Turkiye chambers of commerce highlight roadmap for cooperation
President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi and his Turkish counterpart Rifat Hisarciklioglu has underlined the need for a roadmap to give a boost to cooperation between the two chambers of commerce.
Selahvarzi and Hisarciklioglu met on the sidelines of the 35th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (ICCIA) in Baku on Monday.
Speaking in the meeting, the Iranian side said that Iran Chamber of Commerce is planning to form a working group for trade with Turkiye in different economic areas.
He voiced the readiness of Iran private sector to engage in further cooperation with regional countries, Turkiye in particular.
Selahvarzi invited his Turkish counterpart for a visit to Tehran in the near future to hold a trade and investment forum of the two countries with participation of businesspeople from both sides.
He underlined the need for close engagements of the chambers of commerce of Iran and Turkiye within the framework of a four-year roadmap for further cooperation.
The president of the Union of Chambers and Community Exchanges of Turkiye (TOBB), for his part, welcomed the plans of Iran Chamber of Commerce for enhancement of cooperation and proposed that both chambers of commerce sign a memorandum of understanding on the roadmap for cooperation.
The two sides also agreed to do every effort to increase the level of bilateral trade, exchange trade information and cooperate to help lift hurdles on the way of trade.
Khaf-Herat railway relaunched to connect Iran to Afghanistan
A railway has been relaunched to link Khaf in northeastern Iran to Rozanak in Afghanistan’s Herat Province.
Launch of the strategic railway took place in a ceremony on Tuesday afternoon attended by officials from both Iran and Afghanistan.
Iran and Afghanistan had agreed on the relaunch of the project on December 2022.
The first part of the railway project was inaugurated early in December 2020. This part of the railway linked Khaf in Iran to Rozanak station in Afghanistan and the rest of the railway to Herat had yet to be completed.
Amid the political changes in Afghanistan, parts of the railway as well as Rozanak station in the country were subject to robbery and underwent damages. But the project was completed over last year and the first Iranian cargo train arrived in Afghanistan on Tuesday.
The railway project, which is seen as part of a puzzle connecting different regional countries, began in 2007.
Khaf-Herat railway is also part of a major 2,000-kilometer-long East-West railroad running through China, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Turkey to Europe.
It will also provide the landlocked Afghanistan with access to the high seas via Iranian ports in northern country.
Iran, Turkiye private sectors to continue with cooperation in all areas: Turkiye
President of the Union of Chambers and Community Exchanges of Turkiye (TOBB) says cooperation with Iran private sector will continue in all areas.
Rifat Hisarciklioglu made the remarks in a congratulatory letter to his newly-elected President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi.
He said that TOBB is always keen on working for the enhancement of the commercial and economic cooperation between the business communities of Iran and Turkiye and the whole region.
“I have no doubt that our very close cooperation with ICCIMA will continue in all platforms.”
Selahvarzi was elected as new president of Iran Chamber of Commerce in a June 18 election by securing nearly two-thirds of the total votes cast.