Iran planning to establish joint free trade zone with Turkey

Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Alireza Bigdeli said that expansion of economic ties with Ankara stands atop Tehran's economic agenda, adding that the country is seeking to pave the ground for the establishment of a joint free trade zone with Turkey. The Iranian ambassador said on Monday that the Iranian administration plans to engage in talks with Turkish officials in order to set up a joint free trade zone in Salmas city near the border with Turkey in order to further increase economic interactions. Iran and Turkey have in recent years increased their cooperation in all the various fields of economy, security, trade, education, energy and culture. The two sides have exchanged several politico-economic delegations during the last few months. Last month, Vaezi in a meeting with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Feridun H. Sinirlioglu underlined the necessity for the two neighboring countries to boost their trade exchanges to $30bln by 2015. "The two countries aim to reach the volume of $30bln in their trade and commercial relations by 2015 and we seek to attain this goal through planning and by removing possible obstacles," Vaezi said during the meeting in Tehran in March. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a high-ranking political-economic delegation made a visit to Tehran in January. During the visit, Erdogan underlined his country’s enthusiasm for starting a new chapter in the relations with Tehran, and said Turkey is in dire need of Iran’s energy resources. “We import oil and natural gas from Iran and those are strategic products that Turkey imports from Iran and we can receive them more (than before),” Erdogan told reporters in Tehran after inking several documents on cooperation with Iran. “Given the fact that Turkey’s industries are making progress on a daily basis and rapidly, we direly need energy products, specially Iran’s natural gas, and we should take joint win-win steps,” he added. Erdogan also called for the further expansion of bilateral economic ties with Tehran, and said there is a political resolve in Iran and Turkey to increase the level of their trade exchanges to $30bln in 2015.