Mohammad Hassan Habibollah Zadeh said at the conference on the investigation and pathology of Iran's trade relations with Turkey: Turkey's conditions are special and unique among Iran's 15 neighbors.
One of them is the discussion of the cultural and religious commonalities between Iran and Turkey, as well as the civilizational ties between the two countries.
He continued: On the other hand, we have about 560 kilometers of common border and three border crossings between the two countries, which is very important in terms of developing relations and cooperation.
Therefore, in recent years, there have been many meetings between the leaders of the two countries, and this issue has been seriously pursued in the 13th government.
The Director General for the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the development of trade relations between the two countries is very important for the Iranian government and explained: We currently have three active consulates in Turkey in addition to the embassy," and we are even considering adding another consulate there. Also, there are a large number of Iranians and Iranian students in Turkey, and therefore designing a diplomacy with a legal infrastructure common can lead to the development of current relationships for us.
Habibullahzadeh continued: Over the past few years, various documents have been signed in areas such as customs, transportation, and even a comprehensive cooperation document between Iran and Turkey, and within this framework, several objectives have been set in areas such as trade, energy, environment and final water, which of course must be prepared for implementation.
Stating that the volume of trade between the two countries has increased by more than 70%, he pointed out: In the macro targets of the two countries, they announced that they can increase their share of joint trade to 30 billion dollars per year. .
If the necessary software and hardware are provided, we can expect to achieve this goal in a short period of time.
We export $5 billion to Turkey every year
Also, Mehrdad Saadat Dehghan said during this ceremony: Unfortunately, we do not see such an approach with regard to trade with Turkey, because the Organization for the Development of Trade gives importance to other neighboring countries and to the region.
This is despite the fact that the market size of this country and our ability to enter this market is very large.
Referring to some trade agreements that have not been reached between the two countries, he said: Although we have had preferential trade agreements with Turkey, its role is unclear in practice.
Moreover, Iran's trade adviser was also selected in Turkey, but he was not sent to that country.
All the while, a look at the high volume of the economy and trade in Turkey shows that we are missing the opportunity to be in the big market.
Referring to the statistics recorded in 2022, the head of the Iran-Turkey Chamber of Commerce said: We are talking about a country that exports almost 250 billion dollars and imports 300 billion dollars a year.
Meanwhile, our role in this big market is still insignificant.
Saadat Dehghan continued: Although the statistics show a growth of our exports to Turkey of more than 100%, currently we only export five billion dollars to this country per year, and if we reduce the share of gas, this number will be much more limited. .
This despite the fact that it was only possible to access higher statistics by using the capacities of the common borders between the two countries.
He continued: We have a good diplomatic network in Turkey today, but this issue does not work in the field of economy.
At present, 144 business centers have been activated by Turkey in different parts of the world, but we have not even sent our business advisers yet, if the necessary logistical arrangements are made and the problem of not receiving of standard certificates for certain Iranian goods in Turkey is resolved, Iranian businessmen can be expected to record a broader performance in this market.
Targeting $30 billion in Iran-Turkey trade
Farzad Pilten also said during this ceremony: Turkey is considered as one of the important neighboring countries, in the Trade Development Organization of Iran, especially with the emphasis put by the 13th government, we have planned to develop cooperation with regional and neighboring countries to expand trade. relations with each of these countries, which form the basis of a 4-year program designed to be implemented with the help of activists from various private and economic sectors.
The Director General of the Western Asia Office of the Iranian Trade Development Organization said: Turkey, if it is the most important country in our neighborhood, should not be in the first to third level of the agreement, because a comprehensive cooperation document with Turkey is on the agenda, and this document is not with all neighboring countries and therefore This direction of Turkey is different from other countries for us.
He added: secondly, a target has been set for the development of 30 billion dollar trade between Iran and Turkey, while this capacity may not exist compared to other neighbors, and the only country with this trade capacity should be the country This is Iraq, and a target of 20 billion dollars has been set for trade between Iran and Iraq.
Pilten said: The third point regarding Turkey is the trade balance, while there is no trade balance with a country like Iraq.
The balance has good advantages and creates trade solidarity and makes policy-making on both sides easily possible.
He said: When there is no balance of trade between countries, many actions, including entering into a preferential contract, are not possible.