Iran, EAEU States Ink FTA to Boost Mutual Trade
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)’s member states (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) to increase bilateral trade.
The FTA was inked by Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Abbas Aliabadi and officials of the union in St. Petersburg on Monday.
After the lapse of more than three and a half years and 30 sessions of negotiations, the final document on the FTA was signed in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Union Council.
The FTA will be enforceable after being approved in the parliaments of the signatory countries.
Upon the implementation of this agreement, the tariff rate of 87 percent of trade goods between Iran and EAEU member states will be minimized to zero.
It is predicted that implementation of the FTA will increase bilateral trade between $18 and $20 billion in the next five years.
The implementation of a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) doubled the bilateral trade between Iran and member states of the union.
In 2018, Iran and the EAEU inked the PTA, which came into effect on October 27, 2019. The two sides later began negotiations to upgrade the PTA to an FTA after the success of the former.
