Iran and Turkey have agreed to allow entrance of 450 lorries each day in Bazargan border in a bid to accelerate paperwork as the two countries eye 30 billion dollar trade volume.
Bazargan Customs Director Sadeq Namdar reached the agreement in a meeting with head of Gurbulak Customs as well as Zafer Engin, governor of Doğubayazıt, a small Turkish town and closest to the Iranian border.
The meeting was held in Orumiyeh, the provincial capital of West Azarbaijan, on the Turkish border last Tuesday.
Iranian and Turkish officials sign agreement in Orumiyeh (Photo: Mehr News Agency)
Iranian lorry drivers complain about long delays of up to five days at the Bazargan-Gurbulak borders. Videos posted on social media show lorries forming queues of up to 10 kilometers on the Iranian border before being cleared to enter Turkey.
Reports say scanning lorries in hangars inside the Gurbulak Customs have been causing huge delays and long queues.
Namdar says Iranian exports to Turkey from Bazargan border rose 55% during the past 10 months (21 March 2018-20 January 2019). "141,000 tons of commodities worth 104 million dollars were exported to Turkey through Bazargan-Gurbulak customs, showing a 55% increase," he was cited by Iran's state television IRIB.
Tehran and Ankara have been working out ways to increase their bilateral trade volume to up to 30 billion dollars annually. Majority of bilateral commerce is carried out by land.
Another border customs between the countries is Razi-Kapikoy that has the necessary infrastructure for rail transit as well.
Iranian and Turkish authorities have been accelerating construction work at their respective border terminals.
Rifat Hisarciklioglu, president of the Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), said in January that Turkey will inaugurate its border customs terminal in Kapikoy in the coming two months.