TEHRAN - Tehran is planning to host an international exhibition for introducing the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU)’s trade potentials during May 17-20, IRIB reported.

Five major members of the Eurasian union are going to have exclusive pavilions in this four-day exhibition, the Exhibition Organizer Alireza Jafari said on Thursday.

According to Jafari, businessmen, traders, and powerful export companies from Iran are also going to participate in this exhibition along with the Eurasian countries so that the two sides would be able to have positive negotiations and expand their mutual cooperation in the future.

“We also invited representatives from Oman, Qatar, Turkey, China, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, India, and Pakistan to visit this exhibition, to hopefully ink tripartite memorandums of understanding with Iranian companies as well as the EAEU member nations,” he added.

Jafari further noted that although only 862 commodity items are subject to the preferential trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU, the exhibition will not be limited to these commodity group, and in all areas where Iranian traders have export potentials, they can showcase their products and services in the exhibition.

Iran and Eurasian Economic Union reached a preferential trade agreement in October 2018 based on which about 862 commodity items were subjected to preferential tariffs.

The interim agreement enabling the formation of a free trade area between Iran and the EAEU was signed on May 17, 2018, and officially came into force on October 27, 2019.

Iran is a very important market in the region and the development of ties with this country is of high significance for the EAEU members (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan).

The free trade agreement between Iran and this union has laid the ground for the expansion of trade ties between the two sides.

The agreement with the bloc has increased Iran’s exports to the EAEU member states significantly, which is a turning point for the Islamic Republic's plans for boosting non-oil exports during the U.S. sanctions.

Earlier, Behrouz Hosn-Olfat the director-general of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s office of European and American countries, said that the value of trade between Iran and the EAEU members can reach $27 billion - $30 billion, as there are ample capacities in this regard.

The value of trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union’s member states stood at $1.8 billion during the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021), according to a report released by Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA).

The TCCIMA’s report showed that the mentioned amount constitutes three percent of Iran’s non-oil trade during the ten-month period.

Meanwhile, the value of the Iranian exports to the members of the union have risen by 30 percent during the 12-month period from October 27, 2019, to October 26, 2020, compared to the preceding 12 months, the TPO has said in a report.

Based on the report, Iran exported 2.863 million tons of goods worth $1.091 billion to the EAEU member countries in the said period, compared to the 2.657 million tons valued at $842 million in the previous year’s same period.

EF/MA