Speaking on Monday evening at Tehran Mehrabad airport before leaving for Yerevan to attend the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Summit, President Hassan Rouhani said that his visit is mainly an economic visit, adding that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is joining the EAEU this October.”
According to the official website of the Iranian presidency 'president.ir', Rouhani also said “a country’s economy grows when it can enter the global competition.”
He added “we need to have the economic power that helps us compete, and joining this union is a practice for economic power in the region.”
“Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Armenia are members of this union, and some other countries like Iran, Singapore, Moldova and Vietnam are going to join it,” he said.
The Iranian president continued “Iran’s agreement with this union is being finalized and operationalized from October 27, after which 502 items will be able to use special preferential tariffs. This means that our goods will be exported to these countries with almost zero tariffs.”
He continued “I think this is the first time in our country that we are entering a regional economic union. Of course, we had ECO before [1979 Islamic] revolution, and it changed after the revolution.”
“In conditions when the Americans are putting pressure and sanctions on the Iranian nation and global trade, this is a very important move,” said the President.
He also said “today, we have very good ports in the north and the south, and we hope that we take good steps regarding the economy, which will have very good effects on people’s lives and entrepreneurs.”
In addition to attending the summit, we will have bilateral meetings with other countries’ leaders, said Rouhani, adding, “tonight, we will have a meeting with the President of Armenia as the host of the summit, and tomorrow we will have meetings with Prime Minister of Armenia, as well as presidents of Kazakhstan and Russia and Prime Minister of Singapore.”
“Attending this summit is an opportunity to meet with leaders of other countries, including those who are already members of the union and those who are going to join it,” he said.
Referring to his recent visit to New York to attend UNGA meeting, Rouhani said “the visit to New York was mainly political, in which we proposed out Hormuz Peace Endeavour (HOPE) initiative”.
“The ministers had discussions within the framework of the P4+1, and preparations for the P5+1 meeting were made, which had been agreed upon by all parties,” said the President.
Rouhani concluded "the framework of the meeting was agreed upon by the seven countries and I believe it was an important step that I will explain further at cabinet’s meeting Wednesday. This step can continue in other ways, and it is very important for us to be able to put the nuclear issue in its legal and international process and encourage others to return to their commitments.”
MNA/PR
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