“After several years of negotiations, Iran and Eurasia signed a provisional free trade agreement in 2018, and we intend to turn it into a free trade agreement after three years of trial,” Ardakanian said in a major trade Iran-Eurasia conference in Tehran on Sunday.

The Iranian minister stressed that the three-year period ahead is very important in terms of the implementation and results of such agreement.

He urged the executors of such schemes to work closely with each other to ensure the smooth implementation of the agreement and already provide the necessary premises for the expansion of free trade negotiations that begin next year.

Ardakanian called for making all-out efforts to remove the barriers to the realization of the Eurasia Agreement, noting the deal could pave the way for the expansion of economic relations and the development of trade between Iran and the member states of the Union and would lead to the economic development of these countries.

Iran, as one of the important countries in the Middle East and has a neighborly advantage with the Central Asian and Caucasian countries, can link the interests of these countries and enjoy them as well, emphasized Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian.

In December 2018, Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union finalized a temporary agreement previously reached on the formation of a free trade zone. The deal’s main advantage is a reduction in import duties and the establishment of a transparent trade environment.