Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan to establish joint chamber of commerce
By Aynur Karimova
Iran, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan intend to establish a joint Chamber of Commerce in the near future to intensify economic cooperation.
This announcement came from Mohammad Samedi, the Chairman of the Agricultural Chamber of Commerce of Iranian North Khorasan province, Iranian media reported on October 5.
He said that the North Khorasan province and Turkmenistan have a common 302-kilometer border.
"The establishment of a joint Chamber of Commerce will promote the further development of economic and trade relations among Iran, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan," he noted.
Samadi also added that the aim of establishing a joint Chamber of Commerce between Iran and Turkmenistan is to increase export volumes to Turkmenistan, to simplify the visa regime for businessmen and to accelerate trade processes.
Negotiations with Tajikistan regarding the chamber will be held next week during Samadi's visit to Dushanbe.
Iran is keen on developing economic relations with Central Asian countries, and Tehran's policy in Central Asia has remained stable over the past several years. From a Central Asian perspective, the region is open to building economic ties with the Islamic Republic.
Turkmenistan is the largest supplier of natural gas to Iran. The most convenient transportation route for Turkmen resources to the energy markets of the region passes through Iran.
Turkmenistan was the seventh leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2015, according to the Iran Customs Administration.
Iran exported $973.65 million of non-oil goods to Turkmenistan and imported $113.72 million of non-oil goods from the country.
In March, the two countries signed 17 cooperation documents in the economic, cultural, political, legal, scientific and technological fields. The two sides are determined to boost their bilateral trade to $60 billion within the next 10 years.
Economic relations between Tajikistan and Iran go back to Tajikistan’s independence and cover different areas of trade. Cooperation in trade, industry, energy, transport, agriculture, oil and gas could still be reinforced to lead to an increase in turnover for both countries.
There are more than 200 Iranian companies registered in Tajikistan, including tractor manufactory “TajIran.” All such companies have been successful in their ventures, says the Tajik government. The trade exchange between two countries stood at $228 million in 2014. Since 1992, the two countries have signed 146 economic contracts and interactions have been on the rise.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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