Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Alireza Bigdeli and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Mehmet Tugrul Gucuk met in the Turkish capital city of Ankara on Thursday.

Bigdeli pointed to the economic capacities of Iran and Turkey, expressing optimism that the value of their bilateral trade volume would rise to $30 billion by 2015.

He also called for the enhancement of cooperation between Tehran and Ankara in the areas of energy, transportation and border markets.

Bigdeli also made a reference to the preferential trade agreement signed by the two countries earlier this year, and urged the quick implementation of the accord.

Iran and Turkey have signed a preferential trade agreement that can pave the way for a hike in bilateral trade. The agreement was signed during Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Tehran in January. At the time, Erdogan said the goal of the agreement is to boost trade between Iran and Turkey to $30 billion by 2015.

Gucuk, for his part, praised Turkey-Iran relations as being based upon dialog and mutual understanding and commended the expansion of reciprocal ties in the past few years.

He also expressed hope that Turkish and Iranian merchants and investors would diversify and increase the volume of their trade transactions and participate in joint construction and infrastructure projects.

Iran is Turkey’s second biggest gas supplier after Russia. Turkey uses a significant portion of its imported Iranian natural gas to generate electricity.

SHI/SHI