Iran's trade with four Caspian sea littoral states exceed three billion dollars per years, director general of trade development organization for European,American and CIS countries affairs said
Abdolhamid Asadian told IRNA that the country already has trade deals with Russia,Azerbaijan,kazakhstan,Turkmenistan and plans to sign preferential trade Agreement s(PTAs) with them.
Stressing that Caspian sea littoral states are markets for Iranian goods, the official noted that establishment of trade centers and dispatch of commercial attaches will certainly increase transactions.
Five countries of Iran, Khazakestan , Russia , Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have a total population of over 230 million (70 million,15million,142 million , eight million and five million respectively).
Asadian stated that the four countries, which are rich in gas and oil resources, export $371 billion worth of goods annually of which Russian exports account for $317. He said that Iran's non -oil exports to these countries recorded a significant growth in the first half of Iranian year to March 2008.
Tehran's non-oil exports to Astana totaled $70 million during the same six months, showing 40 million dollars growth compared to the figure for the same period last year.
Iran exported $300 million worth of non –oil goods to Russia last year, while the figure stood at $155 million during March 21 –sept.22.
In a meeting, President Mohamoud Ahmadinejad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to increase bilateral trade and economic exchanges to $200 billion by the next decade. The agreement was reached during a meeting of the two heads of states in Tehran on Tuesday.