Iran, Iraq to hold economic session

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran and Iraq will soon hold a joint economic commission session to bolster cooperation in various economic sectors.

In a joint press conference with his visiting Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari, the top Iranian diplomat spoke of an upcoming trip to Baghdad by Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi to attend an Iran-Iraq joint economic commission session slated for August 6.

Salehi said several agreements on double tax avoidance, customs cooperation, joint investment and economic cooperation have been prepared to be signed at the commission .

“I hope we will be able to sign six major agreements with our friends in Iraq to pave the way for joint investment in the future,” said Iran’s foreign minister.

“Such agreements will help remove barriers to investment and boost economic transactions between the two countries,” he added.

He said Iran-Iraq trade volume currently stands at USD 4-5 billion, stressing that the two countries have the potential to increase bilateral trade volume.

Salehi further said mutual as well as regional issues also came up for discussion during his meeting with Zebari.

The two sides reviewed promotion of all-out mutual relations and stressed the need to explore new avenues for further cooperation.