TEHRAN – Armenian capital Yerevan will be hosting an Iran-Eurasia business forum in late September-early October this year, the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) announced.

According to Mehdi Zeyghami, over 300 companies from Iran and five Eurasian members namely Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, are going to partake in the grand event, the TPO reported.

The forum will be held on the sidelines of the next meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, Zeyghami noted.

Emphasizing the importance of the meeting, Zeyghami said: “It seems that before the implementation of the free trade agreement, holding the Iran-Eurasia business forum will be a great opportunity to provide the necessary ground for the maximum benefit of the economic operators of our country from this agreement.”

This event is organized by the Eurasian Economic Commission in cooperation with the TPO, the Trade Council of the Eurasian Economic Union and relevant institutions from the EAEU member countries, the official said, adding that the forum will include a series of practical discussions and talks aimed at strengthening and further developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the members of the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran.

Zeyghami further mentioned the development of economic cooperation between Iran and the member countries of this union after the conclusion of trade agreements and added: “The implementation of the preferential trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, since 2019, the trade volume of the two sides has increased by more than 2.5 times, and Iran's exports to this union have also grown by more than 138 percent during this period.”

Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union reached a free 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.

The 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.

EF/MA