Tehran Times � Iran and Iraq signed an agreement on July 22 to facilitate trade between the two sides and remove barriers in the way of developing economic ties, IRNA reported.

According to Iran�s commercial attach� to Iraq Naser Behzad, the agreement was signed in Baghdad during a visit by the Head of Iran�s Trade Promotion Organization Mohammadreza Modoudi on top of a trade delegation to the country.

Based on the agreement, primary studies for creation of a joint industrial park will be carried out and new methods will be applied to verify the standards of Iranian goods while the two sides also focus on the quality of the exchanged goods. Establishing export guarantee offices in Iraq and providing supportive facilities for issuing export guarantees for traders will also be possible based on the agreement.

Providing facilities for the issuance of visas for traders and businessmen, holding industrial and commercial training courses, increasing the number of exhibitions for Iranian products, creating the necessary grounds for the maximum presence of the two sides� private sectors in trade relations, as well as removing any non-tariff barriers in the way of Iranian commodities entry into Iraq, were among other issues covered in the agreement.

First Iran-Iraq joint trade committee was held on July 21-22 in Baghdad.

According to Behzad, The Iran-Iraq joint trade committee was aimed to pursue the agreements reached between the two countries during the Iranian presidential trip to Iraq.

�The committee examined two basic issues of addressing the priorities of cooperation between the two countries in order to realize the two sides� $20-billion trade target and remove barriers to trade, Behzad said.

The committee focused on eight key factors in Iran and Iraq�s economic ties, including trade, banking issues, standards, customs, industrial and investment issues, technical and engineering services, transportation and transit, and solutions for increasing interactions between the two countries.

EF/MA