Iran, Turkey Seeking to Increase Trade Ties to $100bln

In a visit held here in Tehran, Davutoglu said given close cooperation between both countries, the annual trade volume must reach one hundred billion dollars within a period of five years.

Iran and Turkey have ample potentials and opportunities for expansion of relations and broadening of cooperation, the Turkish minister said, "We should work together to increase our annual trade volume to $100 billion by the next five years."

The Turkish foreign minister also said he had “very constructive and useful” talks with the Iranian officials during his visit to Tehran, and stressed that given the rapid trend of developments in the region, regular and continuous consultations among the two countries' officials are necessary.

“The two countries share views on many regional and Islamic world issues and greater proximity between the two countries is possible through more consultations and negotiations,” he said.

Davutoglu also argued that if Iran and Turkey fail to find joint solutions to the regional problems, parties from outside the region will impose solutions which will serve the interests of Israel.

During the meeting, Ali Larijani told the Turkish foreign minister and his accompanying delegation that the two countries’ relations are warm and age-old, and added, “The Iranian nation and government have always had a positive view about Turkey,” he said.

Iran, which owns the world’s largest natural gas reserves, is Turkey’s second biggest gas supplier after Russia. Turkey uses a significant portion of its imported Iranian natural gas to generate electricity.

The volume of Iran-Turkey annual trade exchanges reached roughly USD16 billion in 2011, and soared past USD22 billion by the end of 2012.

Turkish exports to Iran are mainly machinery, motor vehicles, iron and steel products, boilers, electric devices, tobacco products. Crude oil and natural gas dominate Iranian exports to Turkey with 90%.