TEHRAN – Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali has praised the level of ties between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, underlining the importance of the economic body.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the first specialized Eurasian exhibition in Tehran on Sunday, Jalali said, “The Eurasian Economic Union is an important and promising union for economic actors.”

“The Preferential Trade Agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Union was reached as a result of long negotiations and efforts of the parties, and during the year and a half that has passed since this agreement, it has had a significant impact on increasing the volume of trade between Iran and Eurasian Union member states,” he added. 

Emphasizing Iran's commitment to a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Union, he praised the approach of the union secretariat and member states to this issue and added, “In the approach of Russia and Mr. Putin himself, we see a positive assessment for the expansion of relations with Iran in the form of the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran's membership in this union.”

He also referred to Iran's efforts in the field of logistics and added that Iran can facilitate Eurasian trade through regional corridors.

Jalali pointed to two rail and sea routes and noted, “In the railway area, two very important border points of the Rasht-Astara and Chabahar-Zahedan railways are being completed. In the case of the Rasht-Astara railway due to lack of financing by the Republic of Azerbaijan problems have been created, but the Chabahar-Zahedan railway is being completed with internal resources.”

The Iranian ambassador to Russia assessed the various railway routes to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan as important North-South, East-West and middle corridors and expressed hope for the revival of these rail routes, according to ISNA.

He also stressed the role of the Caspian Sea route in developing direct trade, especially with Russia and Kazakhstan.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to the existing problems in developing trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, expressing hope that Iranian traders will become professional and reach the level of Eurasian countries. 

It is through such professionalism and strengthening Iran's customs that trade between the two sides will improve, he suggested.

He also called for correcting existing problems and making the agreements more effective to achieve the goal. 

Emphasizing the effective role of private sector traders and chambers of commerce and the relationship between traders, Jalali said that the lack of familiarity of traders with the laws of other countries is one of the main problems in trade between the two parties. And the solution is online education and creating a database of businessmen of countries.

In the end, Jalali emphasized perseverance and efforts to develop relations.

The opening ceremony of the first specialized Eurasian exhibition was held in the presence of Iran’s ambassador to the Russian Federation. Officials and diplomats from other countries, including Russia, were also present. 

During the ceremony, Jalali visited the exhibition and met with a number of businessmen and traders participating in the exhibition.

The exhibition, which runs until July 13, will feature Eurasian Union companies, including 30 companies from Russia, 30 companies from Kyrgyzstan, more than 10 companies from Armenia, more than 10 companies from Kazakhstan and companies from Belarus, along with Iranian companies.

The companies that participated in the exhibition are active in the fields of banking and finance, technology transfer, construction of large factories, silos, ports, wharves, oil tanks, shipbuilding, steel and cement. wholesalers of livestock inputs, oil and agricultural products are also present at the fair.

In May, Ambassador Jalali and Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation Anton Kobyakov stressed the need for expanding economic and cultural cooperation between the two countries.