Iran’s government is trying to reduce customs tariffs on trade between Iran and Syria from the current four percent to zero, according to Hamid Zadboum, head of Iran’s Trade Promotion organization (TPO).
Speaking at the Conference on Trade Opportunities and Strategies with Syria, Zadboum said that Iran has signed free trade agreement only with the Syrian government, according to which customs tariffs are set at four percent. The Iranian government, he said, is trying to reduce the tariff to zero in the future negotiations with Damascus.
“88 items are excluded from the Iran-Syria free trade agreement, but we are trying to include these items in the agreement as well,” Zadboum said.
He also announced plans to develop relations with the Syrian Republic by 2023, details of which could be found on the website of the TPO.
Keyvan Kashefi, president of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce, presented a report on the challenges, opportunities and proposals for the development of economic relations with Syria adding, "Despite the emphasis on the development of political relations, the economic relations between the two nations are still not acceptable."
“Despite the developments in the field of transportation, the shortest and fastest access to Syria is not yet available yet,” Kashefi said. “We are looking for an increase in the number of direct flights to Syria.”
Kashefi further announced the preparation of an advisory package for economic actors and said that soon a database containing the main economic needs of Syria would be unveiled by the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce
Mahmoud Darwish, head of Syria-Iran Joint Chamber of Commerce, asked for formation of a joint commission for joint standardization.
He further asked for fully implementation of the trade agreement signed between the two countries in 2011.