Turkish Minister of Development Cevdet Yilmaz has called for the further expansion of economic cooperation between Iran and Turkey.Yilmaz made the demand in a meeting with Irans new Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bigdeli on Wednesday.
The Turkish minister pointed to the 22-billion-dollar trade between Tehran and Ankara in 2012, and underlined the need to increase the volume of Iran-Turkey annual trade exchanges to USD 35 billion.
He referred to the finalization of a preferential tariffs agreement, the implementation of free trade between Iran and Turkey, the improvement of bilateral tourism ties and the expansion of mutual cooperation in the field of investment as his main priorities.
Bigdeli, for his part, stressed the expansion of the Tehran-Ankara economic ties and expressed hope Turkey would become Irans top trade partner.
In January, Irans former Ambassador to Turkey Bahman Hosseinpour said the volume of trade transactions between Tehran and Ankara can reach as high as USD 100 billion per year.
According to official data released in November 2012, Iran was the third major trade partner of Turkey in the first three quarters of 2012.
Turkeys imports from Iran hit their highest monthly total in March 2012 with over USD 1.63 billion.
Meanwhile, the highest monthly exports from Turkey to Iran were recorded in July 2012 with a total of more than USD 2.15 billion.
By Press TV
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