Iran TPO: EAEU Expo an Opportunity to Expand Trade with Eurasia

Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboom said that holding the first exclusive exhibition of the Eurasian Economic Union in Iran is a good opportunity to facilitate free trade talks with members of the EAEU. Referring to the significance of holding this expo, Zadboom described it as an opportunity to better introduce Iran’s export capacity to EAEU member states, IRNA reported. Emphasizing that the EAEU with a population of 185 million people is one of Iran’s most important trade partners, the official said that a temporary agreement on free trade of 862 goods was signed between Iran and the EAEU in 2018. He noted that Iran tries to turn the agreement into a permanent free trade agreement with the EAEU.

The companies participating in the four-day exhibition are active in the fields of banking and finance, technology transfer, construction of large factories, silos, ports, jetties, oil tanks, shipbuilding, steel, and cement, as well as large sellers of livestock feeds and oil and agricultural products.

On the first day of the event which started on Friday, the members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) and the Eurasian chambers of commerce held a meeting to exchange views on ways of boosting trade between the two sides.

According to Managing Director of Iran International Exhibitions Company (IIEC) Hassan Zamani, due to the special conditions created by the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the exhibition is not open to the public; only traders, scholars, and businessmen whose field of work is related to the EAEU are allowed to visit the exhibition.

In October 2018, Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union reached an agreement, based on which about 862 commodity items were subjected to preferential tariffs.

The interim agreement enabling the formation of a free trade area between Iran and the EAEU was signed on May 17, 2018, and officially came into force on October 27, 2019.
Iran is a very important market in the region and the development of ties with this country is of great significance for the EAEU members.

The trade agreement between Iran and the union has paved the ground for the expansion of trade ties between the two sides.

The agreement with the bloc has increased Iran’s exports to the EAEU member states significantly, which is a turning point for the Islamic Republic’s plans for boosting non-oil exports amid the US sanctions. The value of non-oil trade between Iran and the members of the EAEU reached US$2.1 billion in the previous Iranian year (ended on March 20), data released by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (TCCIMA) showed. - Tehran Times