President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam Hossein Shafei called for a D-8 preferential trade agreement to be more inclusive to cover a wider range of items.
Shafei and Secretary General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam met in Tehran on Tuesday when they explored ways for further cooperation between the member states.
Speaking during the meeting, the D-8 secretary general said that the ministers of industry of the member states are scheduled to meet in the near future to take measures for the approval of a dispute settlement mechanism.
He called for further partnership of Iran Chamber of Commerce to familiarize Iranian private sector activists with the preferential trade agreement, noting that in his contacts with the presidents of the chambers of commerce of the other seven member countries, he had called on the private sectors to play a more active role so to increase the volume of trade.
Imam expressed dissatisfaction with a $130 billion trade among the D-8 member states and said that they have set a target of above $500 billion by 2030.
He also called on Iran to share its experiences in barter trade with other D-8 members.
The president of Iran Chamber of Commerce, for his part, referred to a one-billion population of the D-8 countries and a four-trillion-dollar GDP, regretting that the intra-organization trade still fall short of the expectations.
Underlining the need for a D-8 preferential trade agreement to include more items, he also proposed that a special committee of investment has to be established in the organization to help increase joint investments of the member countries.
He stressed the significance of an arbitration and dispute settlement mechanism in implementing the preferential trade agreement, and said that “Iran Chamber of Commerce has had a center for arbitration and dispute settlement from long ago and is ready to share experiences in this regard.”
Shafei noted that during a conference of D-8 Chambers of Commerce and Industry (D-8 CCI) in Bangladesh, he proposed issuing certificates of origin which was welcomed by other participants.
He also said that Iran Chamber of Commerce has expressed readiness to host the next D-8 CCI conference.