TEHRAN - Director General of the Asia-Pacific Office at Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said on Wednesday that a preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan is going to be signed in the near future, IRNA reported.

Speaking in the fourth meeting of Khorasan Razavi-Herat Joint Trade Committee in Mashhad, Reza Seyed-Aqazadeh said: “Necessary coordination has been made with the Ministry of Commerce of Afghanistan and primary talks will be held on January 13 in the form of a video conference between the officials of the two sides to finalize and operationalize this agreement as soon as possible.”

He mentioned previous tariff agreements between the two countries and said: “Previously, in 2015, the tariffs for the imports of five commodity items from Afghanistan including the imports of sesame were reduced; the tariffs on sesame imports were reduced from 10 percent to five percent.”

According to the official, balancing international trade, especially with Afghanistan is one of the major strategies of Iran in foreign trade, and TPO’s goal is to establish a balanced trade between the two countries.

Special strategies have been adopted by the Trade Promotion Organization for balancing trade with Afghanistan and for resolving problems in this field, he said, adding that the issues and demands of Afghan businessmen will also be reviewed in a special working group in this organization to take the necessary measures and resolve their issues.

The fourth meeting of the Joint Trade Committee of Khorasan Razavi and Herat was held on Wednesday with the presence of the Deputy Governor of Herat and some officials from this province, as well as the heads of various committees from Khorasan Razavi Chamber of Commerce.

Having shared historical, cultural, political, and economic backgrounds, Iran and Afghanistan have been allies for many years and the strategic cooperation between the two countries has been broadened especially over the past two decades.

The value of Iran’s exports to Afghanistan is anticipated to reach $3 billion in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20), according to Hossein Salimi, the chairman of Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce.

EF/MA