By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Iran have increased trade turnover by 22.4 percent or $87.6 million in January-November 2021, the State Customs Committee has reported.

During the first 11 months of 2021, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $390.4 million, with exports accounting for $39.1 million and imports for $351.2 million.

Azerbaijan's exports to Iran increased by 6.6 percent year on year, while imports from that country increased by 32 percent.

It should be noted that the trade turnover between Iran and Azerbaijan amounted to $302.8 million during the corresponding period of 2020.

During the reported period, the country's trade turnover amounted to $30.2 billion. Of the total turnover, export amounted to $19.7 billion or 65.5 percent, while import was $10.4 billion or 34.4 percent, resulting in a surplus of $9.3 billion.

On November 28, 2021, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan signed a trilateral agreement on swapping gas supplies in Ashgabat. The agreement envisages deliveries of 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas each year, with Turkmenistan supplying gas to Iran and Iran delivering an equal quantity of gas to Azerbaijan. Thus, under the trilateral deal, Turkmenistan will sell 5-6 million cubic meters of gas per day to Azerbaijan. 

In addition, a new transport corridor through Iran, Azerbaijan, and Georgia has been launched in test mode recently, which will connect the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea.

After liberating its lands from Armenia's occupation in a 44-day war with Armenia in 2020, Azerbaijan restored control over the 132-km section of the Azerbaijan-Iran border. The restoration of control over the state border created new opportunities and prospects for broader cooperation between the two countries.