Tehran, Ankara explore ways to boost trade

TEHRAN - A high ranking economic delegation from Turkey arrived in Tehran on Monday, aiming to talk with senior Iranian officials on giving a boost to bilateral trade. Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz heads the delegation. He is scheduled to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Roads and Urban Development Minister Ali Nikzad. Enhancing economic ties, launching joint ventures in energy, transportation and industry sectors, raising annual trade value to $20 billion and boosting regional cooperation will be among the main topics of discussion, the report added. Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi in a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in March said that the two countries had agreed to increase the volume of bilateral trade to 30 billion dollars within the next three years. The value of trade between Iran and Turkey surpassed 16 billion dollars in 2011. “Today we became determined to boost this rise to 100 percent and achieve the 30 billion dollar target as soon as possible,” Rahimi stated.