Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.16/ Trend G.Mehdi/
The customs departments in Iran and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding in Isfahan on Monday to facilitate trade, the Mehr News Agency has quoted Iranian Customs Administration Director Abbas Memarnejad as saying.
The MOU has envisaged boosting the bilateral trade through using national rail networks and exchanging data between the two sides to curb smuggling of goods.
Iranian First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi has announced that the speed of trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey has accelerated and will soon reach the targeted goal of $30 billion per year.
He said the volume of trade exchanges in the first six months of the current Iranian year, which started on March 20, has exceeded $16 billion which is expected to reach $25 billion by the end of the year.
Iran and Turkey have recently signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation and construction of the Kars-Igrir-Bazargan-Julfa railroad, National Iranian Railways International Department head Abbas Nazari said, ILNA reported.
He added that Kars-Igrir-Bazarghan-Julfa is a strategic corridor that would have a transit capacity of 3-4 tons per year.
The official added that the project will cost around $800 million, and the railroad's length would be some 400 km (200 km equal, on both sides).
On May 26, the director of Iran's customs administration, Abbas Memarnejad, said the two countries have agreed to meet every six months to review and increase cooperation.
Right now, Iran and Turkey send most of their imports and exports through three border checkpoints. The Bazargan-Gürbulak border point is the busiest, but won't be able to process more trade between Tehran and Ankara, he said. Mermarnejad. Efforts will be made to improve and expand the other two checkpoints, he added.