Russia and Iran enjoy enormous capacities to expand trade ties, which requires more serious banking interactions, an Iranian official said.

Mohsen Kusheshtabar, caretaker of economic coordination department of the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said in the fourth meeting of Iran-Russia economic and trade working group, which was held online on Thursday, that given vast geographies and populated areas, both countries possess eye-catching capacity in terms of expanding trade and economic cooperation; so, banking sectors in these countries should increase coordination to help boost exchanges in mutual ties.
Kusheshtabar referred to President Ebrahim Raisi’s recent visit to Moscow, noting that the trip is a turning-point and ground for expansion of interactions in different economic and trade cooperation.
According to the official, representatives from provinces of both states should coordinate actively in a bid to pave the way for developing economic and trade relations.
One of the main strategies of the current administration in Tehran is expansion of ties with neighboring states, he said, adding that President Raisi’s trip to Russia has helped strengthen serious relationship with the friendly country at production, investment and entrepreneurship levels.
Russia-Iran financial transactions fluctuated between 1.7 billion dollars to 2.2 billion dollars in 2020, but the volume increased in 2021, but the numbers are not satisfactory yet, he argued.
In 2019, Iran exported commodities to Russia worth 394 million dollars, he said, adding that the volume increased 105 percent in 2020, reaching 805 million dollars, and the figure reached one billion dollars in 2021.
As to impact of West-imposed sanctions on Moscow and Tehran, he noted that as a result of the current situation, both countries can enter serious atmosphere of banking interactions to facilitate trade exchanges between the two nations.
Development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) seems to be very important for Russia and Iran, because as the shortest transit route between Asia and Europe, it can play the role of a substitute path for the Suez Canal.
Kazem Jalali, Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, said in the webinar that there are abundant capacities for cooperation between Iranian and Russian provinces such as the North Ossetia–Alania Republic, which is a Russian republic; so, expansion of collaborations should be given more importance.

 

Iran-Russia

By IRNA