TEHRAN - President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) Rifat Hisarciklioglu has said the Turkish private sector is eager to increase its cooperation and exchanges with Iran.

Hisarciklioglu made the remarks in a letter to the newly elected Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi, congratulating him on his election, the ICCIMA portal reported.

“As the apex private sector organization representing the Turkish business community, TOBB is always keen on working for the enhancement of commercial and economic cooperation between the business communities of both our countries and the region,” the official said in his letter.

Back in mid-June, ICCIMA, in collaboration with the Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce, hosted a conference on trade opportunities between Iran and Turkey.

The conference was attended by the Director-General of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)'s Office of West Asian Countries Farzad Piltan, Head of Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce Mehrdad Saadat, and Commercial Counselor of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran Bulent Orhan, along with representatives of Iranian companies active in the Turkish market.

In this gathering, Saadat proposed that Iran's trade with Turkey should be handed to the private sector, saying: “The government cannot be a good businessman. But the real private sector has already come to work and can operate with the support of the government.”

Pointing out that Iran was not able to realize its potential of $15 billion dollar exchanges from Turkey's 500-billion-dollar trade volume last year, he continued: “Although our exports to Turkey are growing, they are not satisfactory.”

He noted that the government must trust the private sector in order to realize the trade potential with Turkey.

“Over 85 percent of Turkey's economy is in the hands of the private sector and they are more inclined to interact with the private sector of Iran,” the official said.

He emphasized that the preferential trade between Iran and Turkey should be operational as soon as possible and the meeting of the two countries’ joint economic committee should be held after a long break.

Elsewhere in the conference, Piltan emphasized that Iran and Turkey can be very suitable business partners for each other, saying: “In terms of exports, we can aim for greater figures with Turkey because the infrastructure is almost ready. In terms of imports, Turkey can play a special role in meeting the needs of our country. In the field of transit, there is good cooperation between the two countries, and Iran and Turkey are good crossings for exporting each other's goods to third countries.”

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Photo: ICCIMA Head Hossein Selahvarzi (L) and TOBB President Rifat Hisarciklioglu