TEHRAN – Deputy director of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said an agreement on preferential trade with the members of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation has been reached and it will take effect in the next two months.

Speaking in a gathering of industry ministry’s deputies in Tehran on Saturday, Hamid Zadboum said TPO is planning on doubling trade with 15 neighboring countries in the near future, Shata news agency reported.

He referred to the industry ministry’s programs for realizing the country’s production capacities to improve exports, saying that “Identification of exports barriers and activation of different markets are among the programs which the industry ministry is following.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the official referred to the trade agreements that Iran has signed with various global organizations and economic bodies including Eurasia Union, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, and said Iran's preferential trade agreement with Eurasia member countries has been prepared in 9 chapters with more than 100 articles and the agreement with D-8 organization also covers 34 articles. 

He finally noted that bilateral trade agreements have also been reached with Turkey, Bangladesh, and Syria, adding that talks on same agreements were also underway with other trade partners such as Malaysia, India and Pakistan.

The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8, is an organization for development co-operation among eight member countries namely, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey.

The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states' position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living.

EF/