Erdogan: "We should triple our trade with Iran..."

Reuters:

"...Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi oversaw the meeting which brought together over a hundred businessmen, including Turkish investors eager to buy into Iran's mostly government-owned textile, machinery and automotive industries.

"Our bilateral trade ties have reached $10 billion ... When we take away the barriers to trade between ourselves, when we complete our preferential trade agreement we can reach a bilateral trade volume of $30 billion in five years," Erdogan told the businessmen from Turkey and Iran.

Numerous rounds of sanctions on Iran by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union have hit the Islamic Republic, discouraging investment in its huge natural gas reserves as well as its banking sector. Turkey on the other hand has fostered diplomatic and business ties with Tehran. ..."