The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has announced that the next round of talks on expansion of
cooperation will be held in Moscow in order to bolster trade exchanges with Iran.
According to
eaeunion.org, the EAEU and the Iranian representative are going to hold the next round of negotiations on a
permanent and full-fledged free trade memorandum of understanding in the Russian capital in
September.
Member of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Andrey Slepnev and Iran’s Deputy
Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Alireza Peymanpak reached an agreement to hold the next meeting in the
mentioned location and time, the website reported.
Peymanpak addressed the audience in the meeting that
the volume of reciprocal trade and transit of commodities in the International North-South Transit Corridor via Iran
has increased nearly 50 percent in the current year.
Slepnev underlined that the trade between the two
sides based on national currencies has experienced remarkable progress, which is of great importance in the current
situation.
According to the EAEU official, the latest positive development has been the initiation of
trade between Russia and Iran with the use of the ruble and rial.
We expect outstanding progress in terms
of the tariff, which can be achieved in the final round of talks, Slepnev noted.
Trade volume between
Eurasia and Iran witnessed a 73 percent increase in 2021 in comparison to the trade in 2020, exceeding five billion
dollars.
The exports between member states of the Eurasian Economic Union hiked more than double –
reaching from 1.65 to 3.42 billion dollars – and the imports augmented by 29 percent – improving from 1.25 to 1.6
billion dollars – in the same period.
The draft of the MoU between EAEU and Iran on preferential export
tariffs was signed on July 5, 2017, in Yerevan, Armenia.
The temporary MoU on Iran’s partnership with the
EAEU for three years was inked in 2018.
The Eurasian Economic Union and Iran have been holding talks
about signing a full-fledged MoU since the second half of 2021.
Source: IRNA - Date: (Aug 30, 2022)