Iran, Indonesia sign agreement to boost bilateral trade

Iran and Indonesia have signed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) that will allow the two Muslim countries to reduce tariffs on exports and imports of certain goods and products.

According to Press TV, the PTA agreement was signed on Tuesday during a state visit by Iranian president Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi to Indonesia.

Iranian and Indonesian ministers and government officials signed 10 other agreements to expand trade and economic relations between the two countries on Tuesday. 

Under the PTA agreement, Iran will lower tariffs on imports of products like processed food and pharmaceuticals, textile, palm oil, coffee and tea from Indonesia while Indonesia will give easier and greater access to its market for Iranian oil and chemical products, metals and some dairy products, according to a report from Jakarta by Reuters news agency.

President Raeisi and other officials said Iran and Indonesia had also agreed on an increased use of national currencies in bilateral trade.

Iran’s Trade Development Commission said earlier this week that non-oil trade between Iran and Indonesia had reached nearly $1 billion in the calendar year to late March.

It said Iran had exported over 1.725 million metric tons (mt) of goods and products to Indonesia worth more than $846.5 million in the year to March 20, adding that imports from Indonesia had topped 93,000 mt worth nearly $118.7 million over the same period.

ME