Tehran, Iran, Feb.12
Trend:
The chairman of Iranian-Syrian chamber of commerce announced that the Syrian traders are keen to cooperate with Iran and are in need of cement, steel, ceramic tiles and some food items from Iran.
The chairman of Iranian-Syrian chamber of commerce Keyvan Kashefi, speaking about the visit of Iran's delegation to Syria, said that the negotiations that took place on this trip had two dimensions, political and economical. He went on to say that Iran's private sector held talks with the opposing side, and this led to an important agreement between the two countries.
“One of the issues was the transit of goods from Iran to Syria, which is now happening through the port of Mersin in Turkey to Syria's Latakia, which is a long and costly journey, so that the price of each container is $4000,” Kashefi said, Trend reports citing ILNA.
“We agreed that this transit route would cross the territory of Iraq. This will reduce 50 percent of the costs,” he noted.
“Another discussion was about the banking ties, which were agreed to be funded first through exchange traders and later through the banking system,” said Kashefi.
"We had good agreements to increase flights between Iran and Syria as well,” he added.
Kashefi went on to say that Iran purchased a building in the free zone of Damascus, which is set to become a trading center for Iranians and Iranian companies.
Referring to the needs of Syria, given the beginning of the reconstruction process and the return of security to this country, he said that the current priority is about technical discussions - engineering and reconstruction, and then the export of some food items.
Pointing to the Iran's credit line in Syria, Kashefi said that there are no active credit lines between two countries, so that the trade between the two countries is now less than $200 million.
“Before the Syrian civil war, Syria was a serious rival in the field of clothing, textiles and food," he said.
"Currently, Syrian traders are keen to cooperate with our country and demand cement, steel, ceramic tiles and some food items from Iran,” he said. “In addition, MAPNA has signed a contract for the construction of several power plants, and in the recent trip, the construction of the Latakia power plant was started.”