Iran proposes free trade with Iraq, Syria, Lebanon
Azerbaijan, Baku, May 01/ Trend F.Milad/
Iran has stated that creating a free trade area with Iraq, Syria and Lebanon can bolster multilateral and regional economic cooperation.
Iranian deputy economy minister Behrouz Alishiri in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Maha Raslan in Tehran on Tuesday said that signing a free trade agreement between Iran and Syria was a long step forward to boost trade cooperation between the two sides, the IRNA News Agency reported.
He expressed Iran's readiness to provide the Syrian side with technical assistance and holding educational workshops in the field of foreign investment.
Iran and Syria started to implement their free trade agreement on Saturday.
In February, the two sides signed a deal to remove customs charges for bilateral trade.
In addition to the currently $500 million annual trade between Iran and Syria, the Islamic Republic annually exports $1.7 billion of its technical and engineering services to Syria.
The two sides have agreed to boost their annual trade to $5 billion in near future.
