TEHRAN – A high-ranking trade delegation headed by Armenia’s Economy Minister is going to visit Iran in the next Iranian calendar month (begins on January 20), an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) announced.

Mojtaba Mousavian Rizi made the announcement in a Commodity-Country Desk meeting on trade with Armenia which was held on Wednesday to explore trade opportunities with the neighboring country.

The mentioned visit is organized by the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry.

Negotiations on the development of trade, the inclusion of more commodity items in the free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), banking cooperation, cooperation for investment in Aras and Moghri Free Zones, and holding a special exhibition of Iranian goods in Yerevan are among the goals of this trip, the official said.

"The mentioned trade delegation also plans to visit several production and industrial centers in Iran to explore capacities for joint production and export of products to other countries," Mousavian added.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Behrouz Olfat, TPO director of the Europe and America Department, presented a report on the current state of trade and economic relations between Iran and Armenia, and mentioned the establishment of an X-ray monitoring system at Norduz border terminal, in northeastern East Azarbaijan Province to avoid unnecessary delays of export cargoes to Armenia in this terminal and to reduce smuggling of goods across the border.

According to Olfat, the volume of Iranian exports to Armenia in 2019 was more than $330 million, with fuels and petroleum products accounting for 29 percent and cement and clinker accounting for 20 percent of the total exports.

Steel and steel products, plastics, fruits and vegetables, ceramics, glass products, chemicals, and fertilizers were also among the exported items to Armenia in the mentioned year.

Following a conflict with Turkey, Armenia has reached out to the Islamic Republic to replace Turkish commodities in its market with Iranian products.

This has presented a new opportunity for Iranian producers to have a strong presence in this market and turn the opportunity into a permanent trade bond between the two countries.

EF/MA