Iran, Iraq targeting 20b-dollar trade:Envoy

Baghdad, Nov 16, IRNA - Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Sulaymaniyah Mehdi Shoushtari said Iran and Iraq are seeking to achieve $20 billion trade volume over the next two years. In an interview with Iraqi media, Shoushtari said that Iran and Iraq Presidents have agreed to reach $ 20 billion in trade exchange between the two countries. Regarding the economic ties between Iran and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the time of Pandemic Covid-19, he said that trade exchange has continued with all the sanitary protocols on the borders. The Consul General also pointed to 600 km of borders Iran shares with Iraq's Sulaymaniyah and Halabja provinces and said that the two official border markets of Parviz Khan and Bashmaq are so important in trade between the two countries. Remembering Halabja chemical attack, the Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Sulaymaniyah said that because of the special situation of Halabja, Iran is ready to help the development and prosperity of this province. As the trade volume between Iran and Iraq grows, Iraq is becoming Iran's main export market, and even in some months of the year, Iran's export to Iraq has outgrown the volume with China, he said. Also, with the aim of developing trade with Iraq, Iran's ministries of industry and economy, as well as the Central Bank, have already increased granting foreign exchange assistance to support exporters of technical and engineering services to Iraq for two years, the official noted.