Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14
By Umid Niayesh, Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Iran and Turkey will boost cooperation in road, railway, maritime and air transport, Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mahmoud Vaez said, the Islamic Republic's Mehr news agency reported Jan. 14.
Vaezi, who is Iranian president Hassan Rouhani's special representative in Turkey's affairs, arrived in Turkey on Jan. 13, to talk with high-ranking Turkish officials about boosting economic ties.
Vaezi said that Tehran and Ankara could reach bilateral trade volume of $30 billion by implementing preferential trade agreement.
"The two countries need to boost their cooperation in different fields such as economy, technology, and industry," he said.
He made the remarks at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Cavusoglu in Ankara.
During the meeting, the Iranian minister also stressed the need to boost the two countries' political cooperation.
Cavusoglu, for his part, said that Ankara is willing to boost its economic and political relations with Tehran.
The Iranian minister, who is a co-chairman of the Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Commission also met with Lütfi Elvan, Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications.
The sides discussed cooperation in telecommunications, Internet, satellite areas.
After the meeting, Vaezi said that Iran and Turkey have agreed to establish a new railway line between the two countries.
Tehran and Ankara intend to increase their trade volume to $30 billion in the current year.
The two countries' trade turnover stood at $13.5 billion in 2013, according to the Iranian media.
Iran's oil and gas exports accounted for $7.6 billion of the mentioned amount, while Turkey's exports to Iran were a little more than $4 billion.
The trade turnover between the two countries was around $22 billion in 2012. Iran and Turkey look to increase their bilateral trade to $100 billion in nine years.
Edited by CN
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