Regarding the possibility of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Iran and the trade and economic issues that may be raised during the visit, Mehdi Musaei said: "Turkish President's visit to Iran has not yet been 100%, but the probability is very certain. ."
There are questions and issues that we suggest addressing during Mr. Erdogan's eventual visit to Iran.
One such issue is the additional taxes Turkey levies on Iranian traders, which are likely to be discussed, and border issues are raised to facilitate trade.
A bilateral free trade agreement is also likely.
We have submitted these proposals to the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, and if steps are taken in this direction, good things will happen for the development of Iran's trade with Turkey.
He explained the additional tax that Turkey collects from Iranian traders: Turkey collects 6% additional tax from Iranian traders because Iranian banking transactions are in trouble and practically this country cannot identify the origin and destination of the money.
This tax is known as KDV.
"Many Turkish companies find it difficult to do business with Iran," said the secretary general of the Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce.
Turkey has $225 billion in exports and $300 billion in imports, so it's a bit difficult for them to work with a country under sanctions.
Therefore, I do not expect a long-term agreement between Iran and Turkey. The difference between Turkey and China or Russia is that the independence of these two countries is much higher than that of Turkey.
Turkey owes $481 billion in foreign debt, most of it to the United States.
He added, "Fortunately, the trade situation between Iran and Turkey is improving day by day."
The most important reason is that Iranian prices have become very reasonable for Turkey.
Because energy, labor, etc. are cheaper in Iran.
That's why our prices are better for Turkish traders.
Iran's trade balance is also positive and our exports to Turkey have exceeded those of imports.
"Since the beginning of 1400(iranian year), Iran has exported $4.2 billion in non-oil exports to Turkey, compared to about $3.5 billion in imports from that country during the same period," Musaei said.
In 2021, Iran's non-oil exports to Turkey amounted to $800 million.