Iran Exports to EAEU More Than Double: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The volume of Iranian exports to the five member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) during the first three quarters of the current Iranian year has increased by 116 percent in comparison to the corresponding period last year, an Iranian Customs official announced.
In remarks on Saturday, spokesperson for the Iranian Customs, Ruhollah Latifi, said the volume and value of goods that Iran has exported to the EAEU states in the 9-month period (March 21 – December 21, 2019) have risen by 116% and 72%, respectively.
The value of Iranian exports to Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in the 9-month period stood at $783 million, he noted.
Latifi said the value of Iran’s imports from the EAEU members in the same period reached $991 million, showing an approximately 7% drop compared to the first three quarters of a year before, although its volume has increased by 47 percent.
In May 2018, Iran signed an agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union members in Kazakhstan.
Once the free trade zone comes into force, the EAEU will grant Iran tariff concessions on hundreds of items.
Russia’s State Duma and the Federation Council ratified the agreement to establish Iran-EAEU free trade zone in November 2018.
In December 2019, Chairman of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran Hamid Zadboom said an accord between Tehran and the EAEU countries will turn into a free trade agreement within the next two or three years.
He also noted that 862 goods will be subject to the free trade agreement in the first stage.
The value of annual trade between the EAEU states and the world amounts to $866 billion, the Iranian official noted, adding that the EAEU imports are worth more than $400 billion per annum.
The Eurasian Economic Union and Iran started to develop the agreement on the free trade in 2015, though the signing was postponed several times.