The periodic economic forum of the Eurasian Union was held on September 30 and October 1 in Yerevan, Armenia, and Iran was the special guest of this meeting.
Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad Atabak and Andrey Slepnev, the minister in charge of trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), have discussed ways of expanding economic cooperation in a meeting on the sidelines of the Eurasian Business Forum in Armenia.
In this meeting, the Iranian side emphasized the need for establishing an insurance company under the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to provide the necessary guarantees regarding Iran’s technical and engineering exports to the region, IRIB reported.
The two sides also discussed the increase in trade between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implementation.
Another focal point of the negotiations was the unification of the standards of the member countries of the EAEU with Iran to facilitate exports to the union.
In this meeting, the Iranian Industry Minister invited Slepnev to visit the third round of the Eurasia Exhibition in Iran.
In early October, the Astana Times reported that Iran is interested in obtaining EAEU observer state status.
The decision to grant such status to a foreign partner shall be adopted by the Heads of the EAEU member states at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council’s meeting, it added.
Iran and EAEU reached a preferential trade agreement in 2018, based on which about 862 commodity items are currently subject to preferential tariffs. The agreement came into effect on October 27, 2019.
Later on December 25, 2023, the two sides also signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) during the EAEU Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
A member of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce has anticipated that more than 88 percent of commodities will be exchanged between Iran and EAEU member states with zero tariffs after the FTA goes operational.
The free trade agreement between the two countries is expected to facilitate the exporters’ access to the target market, Kambiz Mirkarimi said.
Iran’s Mazandaran exports over 800K mt of goods to EAEU
The supervisor of the customs offices of Mazandaran province said that 814,000 metric tons (mt) of non-oil goods were exported from Mazandaran province in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (starting March 21, 2024).
Amir Jamshidi went on to say that 814,000 mt of non-oil goods, valued at over $260 million, were exported from this northern province to the member states of the EAEU from March 21 to September 21, 2024, showing a six percent growth compared to the last year’s corresponding period.
The value of foreign trade in customs offices of Mazandaran province to the EAEU member states at over $260.93 million, he added.
Tehran to host 3rd Eurasian int’l Exhibition
The 3rd Eurasian International Exhibition in Iran is scheduled to be held at Tehran Permanent International Fairgrounds from December 3 to 6.
The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration.
The EAEU provides for the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor, and pursues coordinated, harmonized, and single policy in the sectors determined by the Treaty and international agreements within the Union.
The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Russian Federation.
The Union is being created to comprehensively upgrade, raise the competitiveness of and cooperation between the national economies, and promote stable development to raise the living standards of the nations of the member states.
Reported by Tohid Mahmoudpour.
