TEHRAN – In a meeting between an Iranian trade delegation from the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) with the deputy head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC), the two sides called for improving mutual cooperation.

As reported by the TCCIMA news portal, in this meeting, the two sides, while introducing the capabilities and opportunities for cooperation, emphasized the necessity of continuing communication and exchange of delegations to increase the share of the private sector in the trade of the two countries.

A delegation led by the TCCIMA Secretary-General Bahman Eshqi left Tehran for Istanbul on September 11 to visit the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and some of Turkey’s manufacturing units.

As reported, the purpose of this delegation’s visit was to hold talks with the officials of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, as one of the oldest chambers of commerce, and to benefit from the experiences of this chamber and the Turkish private sector in order to facilitate and improve the country’s business environment.

The value of trade between Iran and Turkey reached $6.42 billion in 2022, while the figure stood at $5.59 billion in the preceding year.

Iran's trade balance with Turkey has been $280 million positive in favor of Iran in the past year.

Last July, Iran, and Turkey discussed ways of expanding economic relations along with political ties at the Turkish-Iranian High-Level Cooperation Council in Tehran.

During the meeting, which was co-chaired by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the two sides negotiated the extension of the gas export contract between the two sides for the next 25 years.

In the meeting, President Raisi noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to expand economic relations with neighboring countries.

The president also evaluated Tehran-Ankara ties as positive and progressive, saying that the two countries should pursue appropriate policies to move towards increasing their annual trade exchanges to $30 billion.

On the sidelines of the mentioned meeting, Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian also held talks with Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez in which the two sides exchanged views on cooperation in energy fields.

Later, Head of Turkey’s Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB) Hasan Basri Kurt met with the former Head of Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization (ISIPO) Ali Rasoulian to discuss ways of expanding cooperation between the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the two countries.

In this meeting Rasoulian referred to the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries on cooperation between SMEs, saying: “President Raisi has emphasized setting up joint industrial parks in the country’s special economic zones, considering the good infrastructure for setting up such parks in the free and special economic zones and the active presence of economic enterprises in these areas.”

EF/MA