12/26/23 Iran and the EAEU signed a full-scale agreement on a free trade zone

On December 25, 2023, a full-format agreement was signed in St. Petersburg between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union on the creation of a free trade zone. This agreement replaces the temporary agreement signed in 2019. The temporary agreement has already made possible to increase mutual trade turnover by 2.5 times (from $2.4 billion in 2019 to $6.2 billion in 2022), although its product coverage was limited to a minimum set agricultural and industrial products.

The now signed Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Iran will take trade between our countries to a qualitatively new level. The deal is ambitious — import customs duties will be eliminated on almost 90% of the product range, which accounts for more than 95% of our mutual trade. Over the next 5-7 years, the agreement will allow increasing mutual trade turnover to $18-20 billion.

The growth of trade and economic interaction inevitably entails the development of a business purchase and sale market between the countries participating in the agreement. Therefore, we expect an increase in the interest of entrepreneurs from the EAEU and Iran in acquiring ready-made businesses in each other’s countries, which will require business brokers such as the REAB Consortium.