Tehran (IP) - Iranian Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian said a new tariff system in the context of the Eurasian Economic Union is an excellent opportunity for the country's economy.

Iran Press/Iran News: Iranian Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian said in an exclusive interview with Iran Press that a new tariff system between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) members which is based on discounting and waiving tariffs is an excellent opportunity for Iran's economy.

The minister of Energy underlined that "An agreement has been reached between the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran that will be operational from October 27."

Ardakanian stressed, "As a result, about 840 items will be subject to preferential tariffs, namely tariffs on some goods will be reduced and on some others will be zero."

He added "Over 500 items are in this list that Iran can export at low or zero tariffs. This is a great opportunity for the country's economy. If in the first place our private sector is well-prepared we can utilize it at its maximum. By October 27, we will have the opportunity, in which our producers, traders, trade associations and chambers of commerce and government agencies will be updated with related details that could help create jobs in Iran under sanctions."

Ardakanian underlined the advantages of president Rouhani's participation in Eurasian economic Union and went on to say, "Participation of Iran's president in the head of states' summit of Eurasian Economic Union happened for the first time as we are joining this economic union by the end of October, and through this lots of discounting and waiving tariffs will happen among the member states of the union as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran."

He continued, "We expect that through the agreement we may have new opportunities for job creation as well as export our products of different sectors. So this meeting there was an opportunity also for bilateral talks between Iran and other members including Armenia, Kazakhstan as well as Singapore who is joining the Union in the future."

Ardakanian elaborated, "My ministry is in charge of joint economic commission between Iran and Armenia, in this regard we had the opportunity to discuss bilateral issues including the expansion of the contract to transfer electricity between two countries. We are developing a new transmission line which may add about 1,000 megawatt capacity of electricity exchange between Iran and Armenia. Armenia is very keen on importing more gas from Iran and also exchanging with electricity and other goods."

On the positive side of the agreement countering  the US sanctions, the Minister noted, "You know that Iran is early stages of joining to the economic agreement and I think regardless of the sanction issue, joining the union is a good opportunity and also good experience for us but for sure it also has some positive impacts on the sanctions in terms of providing new channels for exchanges of goods." 101/219

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