TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to Syria in May marked a new turning point in the two countries’ ever-growing relations as it was the first visit by an Iranian president to Damascus since the start of the foreign-backed violence in Syria.

Although Iran has always been a strong ally of Syria, this landmark visit has opened a new chapter in the political and economic relations between the two countries.

The two allies are now more determined to take significant measures for further strengthening of bilateral relations, especially in the economic sector.

During President Raisi’s visit to Damascus, Iran, and Syria signed numerous agreements in various areas including banking cooperation, the establishment of an insurance company, tourism, transportation, and free trade.

Less than two months after this visit, a high-ranking delegation led by Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad visited Iran to follow up on the agreements reached during the Iranian president's visit to their country.

Syria’s Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Mohammad Samer al-Khalil and the country’s Communications and Technology Minister Iyad Mohammad al-Khatib were among the officials who accompanied al-Mekdad on his visit to Tehran.

During their stay, the Syrian officials met and held talks with top Iranian officials and ministers to explore ways of expanding ties and implementing the agreements and memorandums reached between the two countries.

Following up on previous agreements

Upon arrival to the capital Tehran on July 31st, Samer al-Khalil, who is the Syrian head of the Iran-Syria Joint Economic Committee, met with his co-chair official, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash to exchange views on accelerating the implementation of the mentioned agreements.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, al-Khalil said the agreements reached during the visit of the Iranian President to Syria are in line with the interests of the two countries.

“[The goal of] Today's meeting is to follow up on the agreements and approvals that were made during the visit of the President of Iran to Syria on May 5,” he stressed.

The Syrian minister noted that several constructive meetings have been held with Iranian officials regarding economic cooperation between the two countries and many topics have been discussed in all the potential fields of cooperation.

Bazrpash for his part mentioned the agreements signed during President Raisi’s visit to Syria, saying: “16 cooperation documents were signed between the two countries during the visit, and one of our main duties in the [two countries’ Joint Economic] committee is to follow up on the implementation of these documents.”

Enhancing banking, monetary ties

Later on August 4, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Mohammadreza Farzin met with Iyad Mohammad al-Khatib and Samer al-Khalil to discuss ways of expanding monetary and banking ties.

Speaking at this meeting, Farzin said: “Monetary and banking cooperation between Iran and Syria is followed seriously and will increase in the short term.”

Underlining the need for developing banking and commercial cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria, the CBI governor said: “Increasing monetary, banking, commercial and joint investment relations and cooperation is on the serious agenda of Tehran and Damascus.”

He further referred to the development of Iran's electronic banking and monetary network and the CBI’s readiness for joint cooperation in this field with Syria, stating: “One of Iran's important strategies in developing commercial cooperation with neighboring countries is replacing the dollar with national currencies in monetary and banking relations in order to increase the volume of trade transactions.”

Establishing a joint free trade zone in Syria

During the visit of the Syrian delegation to Tehran, the two sides also discussed establishing a joint free zone in Syria.

In a meeting with Hojatollah Abdolmaleki, the secretary of Iran's Free Zones High Council, on Wednesday, the Syrian economy minister proposed establishing a joint free trade zone in the country’s Latakia port city.

“Certainly, one of Syria's priorities in commercial and economic cooperation with Iran is to create a joint free zone,” Mohammad Samer al-Khalil said.

“Several meetings have been held to determine the best place for establishing a joint free trade zone with Iran and three areas of Latakia port, Abu Kamal, and Hassia have been proposed as areas for the establishment of the joint free zone”, he added.

Expanding agricultural cooperation

Samer al-Khalil also met with Iranian Agriculture Minister Mohammad-Ali Nikbakht on Sunday to discuss ways of boosting the level of cooperation in the agricultural sector.

During this meeting, the Iranian side said the country is ready to provide Syria with modern agricultural knowledge and technologies.

Nikbakht emphasized the need to develop economic cooperation between the two countries and said: “Considering our experiences and technical-engineering knowledge in various agricultural sectors, we are ready to cooperate with Syria in a variety of areas including horticulture, fisheries, and processing industries.”

 “Having more than 2,000 researchers and academic staff in the Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, Iran can exchange knowledge and technology with Syria in this field,” he said.

The official invited Syria’s agriculture minister, experts, and researchers to visit Iran in order to get familiar with the country’s agricultural technology and knowledge development.

Samer al-Khalil for his part emphasized the need to develop cooperation between the two countries and said: “In the past, we have benefited from Iran's experiences in the field of livestock.”

Pointing out that Syria is an importer of many Iranian products in various fields, he added: “We are interested in using Iran's experiences in various agricultural fields, including animal husbandry and fisheries, and we can mutually benefit by using the agricultural calendars of the two countries to strengthen our commercial and economic relations.”

EF/MA