TEHRAN – Head of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce has said the two countries plan to increase their trade turnover to $500 million in 2022, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported.

According to Keyvan Kashefi, the trade between the two countries experienced a 90-percent rise in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21, 2021) compared to the same period in the previous year.

He put the trade between the two sides during the above-mentioned nine months at $190 million, saying that the economic exchanges between the two countries are currently following an upward trend.

Kashefi noted that the governments of the two countries are taking positive measures in various areas including transportation, banking relations, and visa issuance for traders in order to facilitate the business exchanges.

According to the official, currently, up to eight percent of all the products that are exported from Iran to Iraq end up in the Syrian market, not being recorded as imports from Iran.

Earlier in January, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi who had visited Damascus announced that Iran and Syria have reached primary agreements for the establishment of a joint free zone and a joint bank.

The decisions for the establishment of the mentioned entities were made during a three-day visit of the Iranian minister to Syria.

Qasemi, who headed a high-ranking delegation in the visit to Syria, met with senior officials from the Arab country including President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, and Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Mohammad Samer al-Khalil.

Referring to his meeting with Assad in Damascus on January 14th, Qasemi said, "During the meeting with the Syrian president, the economic issues of this country, as well as the current obstacles and problems in the economic relations between Iran and Syria were discussed. A joint committee is set to be formed between Iran and Syria [to resolve such problems]."

EF/MA