TEHRAN, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Syria have called for accelerating the establishment of a joint bank to boost bilateral trade, Iran Daily reported on Saturday.
"In order to increase economic exchanges, it has been proposed that we establish a joint bank to support economic activities," head of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce Keyvan Kashefi said in a meeting with the Syrian officials in the Syrian capital Damascus.
The implementation of a free trade agreement and the reduction or elimination of customs tariffs can be instrumental in the increase of mutual trade exchanges, Kashefi was quoted as saying.
"Syria is one of our main trade markets and export destinations... We have common interests with this country in various fields, which can support our economic relations," he said.
Earlier, Kashefi said that the annual value of Iran's trade with Syria could reach 1 billion U.S. dollars by the end of current Iranian calendar year (to start on March 20).
The Syrian economic and trade officials also attended the meeting. They stressed their interest in increasing cooperation with Iran and proposed ways to develop the two countries' trade relations.
It was announced on Dec. 26 that Iran and Syria had plans to establish a joint bank to facilitate trade cooperation.
