TEHRAN - Iran will become one of the most important trade partners of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides, said the union’s minister in charge of trade.

Andrey Slepnev made the remarks in a meeting with the Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali, as he announced plans for signing of the mentioned FTA in Moscow in the near future, IRNA reported.

He also called the agreement the most important cooperation document between the two sides.

Jalali, for his part, said the free trade agreement is the result of intensive negotiations and the will of the two sides to develop their relations.

In 2018, Iran and the EAEU inked a preferential trade agreement (PTA), which came into effect on October 27, 2019.

The two sides later began negotiations to upgrade the PTA to a FTA after the success of the former.

Back in August, Slepnev said that the EAEU is ready to boost its annual trade with Iran to $30 billion.

Noting that the draft of the free trade agreement between Iran and the union has been finalized and is ready to be approved and signed, the official said: “We hope that the free trade agreement of this union with Iran will be signed before the end of 2023.”

“The member states of the Eurasian Union have a serious approach to expanding cooperation with Iran and considering such determination, the agreement will be quickly approved in their parliaments,” he added.

The official said the preferential trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU resulted in the trade between the two sides doubling and it is expected that by signing the free trade agreement the trade between the two sides will be doubled once again.

“The signing of the comprehensive agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Union will provide suitable conditions for mutual access to the markets for both sides,” Slepnev said.

“We know very well that the volume of trade with a large country like Iran is still not very high, and therefore, it seems that targeting 30 billion dollars of annual trade is a good way to develop trade between our countries,” he noted,

The Eurasian Economic Union was established in 2015 at the initiative taken by Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. Afterward, the Republic of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined the Union.

EF/MA