Iran, EAEU to sign free trade zone deal by yearend
The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has completed a substantive discussion of all the provisions of an agreement to set up a free trade zone with Iran so that the document can be signed by the end of 2023, according to Andrey Slepnev, the EAEU minister of trade.
He said that negotiations on the agreement have been completed and it will be available for signing in the coming months, according to IRNA.
Slepnev was quoted by Belarus Today on Monday that the date for the signing of the agreement to set up a free trade zone with Iran will be determined by the presidents of the EAEU members.
“We are now polishing the document and I hope the process will be completed within a month. We then plan to report the results to the prime ministers in Sochi in early June [during the summit of the CIS and EAEU heads of state] … and I think there is a very high probability that we will sign an agreement with Iran this year,” he said.
Slepnev said that the agreement on a free trade zone with Iran can multiply the volume of mutual trade.
“We expect that the signed document will enable us to increase our trade from the current $6 billion, in a mid-term period of 5-7 years, to $20 billion; these are quite real figures. Iran is a very serious partner; it is a big country.”