New agricultural trade agreement reached between Syria and Iran

(North Press) – The Syrian government announced on Tuesday a new agreement with Iran to trade Syrian and Iranian crops and agricultural products, a step that may increase Iranian expansion in Syria.

The Ministry of Interior Trade of Syrian government said that it will export two tons of olive oil and one ton of lentils to Iran in exchange for importing Iranian sunflower oil.

This came after a meeting between an Iranian delegate with officials of the Syrian Ministry of Interior Trade in Damascus, in which both delegates noted the necessity of continued consultations and cooperation between the two countries.

Jamal al-Din Shu’ayb, associate minister of Interior Trade in Syria, told the pro-Syrian government newspaper al-Watan that the agreement will be implemented in the next month.

He stated that the trade between the two countries will be a first step to barter other products, where materials such as sugar, rice, and canned food such as sardines and tuna can be imported from Iran in the coming months.

Shu’ayb added that the goal of bartering Syrian and Iranian products is to make prices competitive and support local markets with new, high quality goods.

In a previous statement, Ghulam Hussein Shafe’i, head of the Iranian Agricultural, Industrial and Trade Chamber, said that what Iran invested in Syria, it has not invested with any other country.

In October, the Syrian Ministry of Water Sources signed a memorandum with Iran to promote cooperation in the water sector.

This came a week after Iran inaugurated a large commercial center with a 4,000m² space in the free zone in Damascus, which held the name “Iranian.”

In 2018, Syria and Iran signed a memorandum in which the Iranian government would build 200,000 houses in Syria.