Iran and Türkiye are working hard to reach a target of $30 billion (TL 1.05 trillion) in bilateral trade, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said Wednesday.
After meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as part of his visit to the capital, Tehran, for the 29th Meeting of the Türkiye-Iran Joint Economic Cooperation Commission, Bolat said Türkiye wants to renew its energy agreement with Iran, according to a statement released by the Iranian Presidency.
Bolat pointed out that they would modernize the border gates to facilitate the common customs trade between the two countries. "We are trying to open two more border gates with Iran," he said.
"We are also trying to strengthen border crossings and markets between the two countries," he added.
Bolat noted that they also want to revive the preferential trade agreement signed with Iran in 2015 and implement a comprehensive agreement on tourism.
Pezeshkian said he has always emphasized the necessity and importance of strengthening relations between Islamic countries and that they discussed this in their meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
"We should solve the problems among us in a brotherly manner and strengthen the power of the Islamic world in a practical way," he said, adding that Islamic countries would benefit from sharing their capacities with each other, from trade markets to transportation routes and other potentials.
"In recent years, Türkiye-Iran relations have become multidimensional and comprehensive under the High-Level Cooperation Council, which meets under the leadership of the Presidents of both countries, and they continue to strengthen in the economic and commercial fields," Bolat said in a separate statement on X on Thursday.
He reiterated that they were received by Pezeshkian in Tehran, where they attended the 29th Türkiye-Iran Joint Economic Commission meeting.
"As Türkiye, we attach great importance to diversifying areas of cooperation for our bilateral trade volume to reach the $30 billion target. In this context, we brought up the development of border trade centers and the opening of new border gates at the meeting," he added.
He also noted earlier on X that within the scope of the forum, "opportunities for cooperation in various areas such as trade, customs, investments, finance, transportation, energy, health, agriculture, environment and urbanization, tourism and sports were discussed, and the steps that our business worlds could take jointly in these areas were evaluated."
"As we emphasized at the meeting, Türkiye and Iran have the opportunity to reach a bilateral trade volume of $30 billion with determined steps they will take," Bolat said.