“We have set a target for at least $15 billion in trade with Turkey until 1404 which can be met through cooperation with the private sector,” said Farzad Piltan, who serves as head of TPO’s West Asia department, on Sunday.
Piltan said US sanctions on Iran have hampered the trade of certain items on a list of nearly 500 goods and products that can enjoy lower tariffs under a preferential trade agreement (PTA) between Iran and Turkey.
“Some of these commodities are subject to the sanctions and we have to carry out more negotiations for the PTA agreement to become more effective,” said the official in a forum in Tehran that was focused on trade between Iran and Turkey.
Piltan said Iran and Turkey have also great potential to increase the amount of international transit of cargo that passes through their territories.
Annual trade between Iran and Turkey reached a total of $13.558 billion in the calendar year to late March 2023, according to figures released in April by the Iranian customs authority (IRICA).
Turkey was the third largest customer of Iranian non-oil exports over the year to late March with some $7.459 billion worth of purchases, an increase of 23% compared with the year before, IRICA figures showed.
The figures showed that Iran’s imports from Turkey also increased by 15% over the past calendar year compared to the year to March 2022 to reach $6.099 billion.
MNA/PressTV