New Iran-turkey checkpoint expected to increase trade
A new checkpoint named ‘Kapikoy’ between Turkey and Iran which was opened in the eastern Turkish province of Van will play a signi¿cant role in the development of tourism and trade of the region, said Turkey’s former deputy minister of customs and trade.
According to report by Daily Sabah, Fathi Chiftchi said that the construction of the checkpoint which began in 2017 cost 100 million Turkish lira (less than $19 million), adding that Van’s 50-year dream has come true.
There are already 12 land border crossings in eastern Turkey, where the country shares borders with Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Four are on the border with Iraq, three with Georgia, one with Azerbaijan and another with Armenia that remains shut due to political differences. Three others are along the 499km border with Iran.
During the ¿fth meeting of the High Council for Iran-turkey Strategic Cooperation, held in Ankara in December and chaired by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the two sides agreed to move the trade goalpost from $11 billion — at which bilateral trade currently stands — to $30 billion.
The two sides are hoping that the opening of a fourth land border crossing can facilitate that.
From March 21 through December 21, 2018, the two countries experienced a 30-percent growth in the trade of nonoil goods compared to the ¿gure for the same period a year earlier, according to the latest data released by Iran’s Customs Administration.
While the nearly seven million tons of goods tumbled in value by 6.6 percent compared to the year before, prospects for long-term gains remain strong, given Turkey’s demand for energy and mineral resources.
Iran mainly exported lique¿ed natural gas, non-alloy zinc, aluminum and bitumen to Turkey during the nine months recorded.
Turkey, for its part, exported over 900,000 tons of cooking bananas, tobacco, ¿bers, cotton and automobile parts.
On the sidelines of a tripartite summit held in Sochi, Russia on February 14, Rouhani told Erdoğan that cooperation between the two countries is very good, adding, “Deepening banking transactions is prerequisite to developing ties.”
Rouhani is not only concerned about Iran’s access to global credit, but hopes that agreements related to the energy, industry and transportation sectors will soon be struck.
“It is essential that the authorities of the joint commission of cooperation accelerate the process of implementing these agreements,” he said.
Erdoğan said that Turkey is ready to join the Special Purpose Vehicle established by the European Union, which will help facilitate international trade with Iran, “and create a similar bilateral mechanism for trade cooperation with Iran”.
“Multilateral cooperation with Iran on various issues has had positive achievements and Turkey is ready to expand this cooperation to other countries in the region,” the Turkish president added.