ANKARA (Daily Sabah) - The chairman of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DE?K) and the Turkey-Iran Business Council ?mit Kiler has said the establishment of a trade finance mechanism, one that is similar to INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges), was discussed during Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's visit to Ankara last week.
?mit Kileraid this would boost bilateral trade. He stressed that the new mechanism could unlock trade with Iran. "It could boost bilateral trade by a more than 100 percent within a year, reaching $20 billion," he said.
Recalling that the trade volume with Iran stood at $10 billion in 2018, Kiler said they aim to push that number to $12 billion this year.
Murat Akyüz, chairman of Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters' Association, said Iran could surely become one of their top 10 markets with this move.
Plastics Industry Foundation (PAGEV) Chairman Yavuz Ero?lu, on the other hand, pointed out that they aim to export $250 million worth end products to Iran.
Germany, France and the U.K. jointly established INSTEX in non-dollar currencies at the beginning of this year to bypass the U.S. sanctions and trade with Iran.
This development has increased the expectation of Turkey's apparel sector in the Iranian market. Istanbul Apparel Exporters' Association (?HK?B) Chairman Mustafa Gültepe said they have gathered notable experience in the ruble-based trade with Russia. "Iran is a very appealing and high-potential market for our sector. The only inconvenience is Iran's import bans on our industry," he continued and suggested that regulation in this direction could increase sales.
In a joint press conference with Zarif, Foreign Minister Mevlüt ?avu?o?lu said Turkey is looking into establishing new trade mechanisms with Iran, similar to that of INSTEX, set up by European countries to avoid U.S. sanctions, reimposed last year on exports of Iranian oil.
?avu?o?lu reiterated Turkey's opposition to the sanctions and said Ankara and neighboring Iran needed to keep working to raise bilateral trade to a target of $30 billion, around triple the current levels.