Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) representatives have gathered in Tehran for the fifth round of negotiations on upgrading the current preferential trade agreement between the two sides into a free trade agreement (FTA).
The talks started on Monday with the presence of a Eurasian delegation comprised of representatives of the union’s member states and the Eurasian Economic Commission, as well as Trade Promotion Organization Head Alireza Peymanpak and representatives of Iranian ministries and agencies, IRNA reported.
The negotiations on turning the preferential trade agreement into a free trade agreement began about 18 months ago and are expected to conclude before the end of the current year.
The purpose of the negotiations is to determine the commodity items that should be included in the agreement.
If the FTA is implemented, 80 percent of the goods traded between the two sides will be exchanged with zero tariffs.
This round of negotiations will finish today; both sides hope to finalize the draft of the agreement and prepare the list of commodity items for signing.
TPO sent a team of negotiators to Russia in April to hold talks with representatives of the five Eurasian Economic Union member states on the free trade agreement.
Iran exported 2.77 million tons of commodities worth over $1.17 billion to the union to register a 3.5 percent increase in terms of weight and 12 percent growth in terms of value.
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, which came into effect on October 27, 2019, will be in effect for three years, so it is going to expire in October this year.
The EAEU, launched in 2015, is a regional bloc consisting of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia, which seeks to optimize the flow of goods and services among its members.

The head of the Fisheries and Aquatics Department of Agriculture Organization of Hamedan Province said 61 ornamental fish breeding units of the western Iranian province produce over four million pieces annually.
Referring to the launch of an ornamental fish production zone in Hamedan with a capacity of 10 million pieces, Ja’far Kaviani Delshad added that establishing ornamental fish breeding industrial units will help increase exports. Most of the ornamental fishes produced in the western Iranian province are exported to Iraq, he noted.
Currently, a plan to construct ornamental fish breeding complexes in one of the villages of Bahar city of the province is being implemented, Kaviani Delshad said.
Iran’s annual exports of ornamental fishes stand at 10 million pieces, announced the head of Ornamental Fish and Aquatics Department of Iran Fisheries Organization (IFO) on January 8, adding that the Persian Gulf littoral states and neighboring countries including Azerbaijan and Afghanistan are the main export destinations in this field.
Talking to Iran Daily, Alireza Rahmani said that East and Southeast Asian countries including China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand are the major ornamental fish producers and exporters in the world.
He continued, “Ornamental fishes have a considerable market in the world, and the annual turnover of this industry is over $20 billion, in which our share is very small, less than one percent.”
 

An Iranian deputy minister has underscored that the Islamic Republic is prepared to expand economic exchanges with Nicaragua in particular in railway, cement, and steel industries.
Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade for Transportation Industries Manouchehr Manteqi made the remarks on Tuesday in a meeting with Nicaragua’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Mojica Obregon, IRNA reported.
The two sides called for deepening economic relationships and expanding industrial exchanges in different fields.
As to Iran’s important industrial capacities and the Nicaraguan government’s plans to develop railroads, Manteqi said that Iran is ready to cooperate with Nicaragua in setting up complete railways, including three sections of procuring wagon and locomotive, controlling equipment of railroads, and improving the efficiency of railways.
He further pointed to Iran’s capability in exporting cement and steel to the Latin American country, noting that the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade can provide Nicaragua with the products from Iran’s production surplus.
Obregon, for his turn, referred to Iran’s progress in different areas despite international pressures.
The Nicaraguan minister welcomed expansion of trade relations between the two countries.
He also called on Iran to provide Nicaragua with its requirements in terms of cement and steel, demanding the Islamic Republic transfer technology and export railway products to the Latin American country.
In a Monday meeting between Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari and the Nicaraguan minister, Safari said that Iran is quite ready to transfer advanced technologies, nanotechnology and biotechnology as well as vaccines and medical supplies to Managua.
Obregon and Safari agreed that bilateral economic relations and cooperation need to be comprehensively expanded.
The Nicaraguan minister is visiting Tehran to participate in Iran’s Intelligent City Exhibition and pursue ways to expand bilateral ties, especially in the field of infrastructure and advanced technologies.
Nicaragua’s Foreign Minister Denis Moncada in a conference hosted by the Iranian Institute for European and American (EURICA) said that Tehran and Managua enjoy complementary economies.
The Nicaraguan minister further proposed that the countries in that Latin America are ready to form an anti-sanctions block with the cooperation of international allies in particular Iran.
The Islamic Republic and Nicaragua pursue collaboration in different areas even in the health sector. In June, Iran delivered a batch of coronavirus vaccines to the Latin American country, consisting of 200,000 doses of the COVIran Barekat vaccine.
 

Heading a delegation, Iranian Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian left Tehran for Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday to review ways to widen cooperation as the two countries are seriously determined to develop cooperation in the fields of energy and electricity.
Also, important documents on cooperation are to be signed during the Baku visit, IRNA reported.
Development of cooperation with regional states, the neighbors in particular, is an important strategy being followed up by the Iranian government.
It was the motto of President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi during his campaign before June 2021 presidential election that diplomacy would not be limited to political relations, but it should include economic ties.
So, Azerbaijan has special position in country’s regional relations.
Reportedly, Mehrabian’s visit to Baku is important, as it is to review energy issues, exchange of electricity and situation of the joint projects, including Khoda Afarin Dam.
About six years ago, the Iranian Parliament approved an agreement on cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan for construction and use of Khoda Afarin and Qiz Qalasi dams.