TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees trade with Iran hitting the $30 billion mark "soon” as the two regional powers are shoring up relations on multiple fronts.
"With the large-scale planning which is underway, we will soon reach the sum of $30 billion in trade transactions between the two countries,” the Turkish leader told Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri in Istanbul Friday night, the state news agency IRNA reported.
Jahangiri traveled to Turkey to attend a summit of Developing-8 countries, where the two countries’ central banks also formally agreed to trade in their local currencies.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said trading with local currencies would help improve economic ties through making dealings easier and increasing their volume and diversity.
The volume of trade currently stands at $10 billion, down from $22 billion in 2012, with intensified sanctions on the Islamic Republic being the main cause of the slump.  
Since the lifting of the sanctions in January 2016, Iran and Turkey have stepped up efforts to boost bilateral trade and signed a number of bilateral agreements.
In August, the Turkish firm Unit International said it had signed a $7 billion agreement with Russia’s state-owned Zarubezhneft and Iran’s Ghadir Investment Holding to drill for oil and natural gas in Iran.   
Turkey is the biggest purchaser of Iran’s natural gas and a major Iranian oil importer. Erdogan said on Friday his country is interested in buying more oil from the Islamic Republic.
According to Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory statistics, the country imported 225,800 barrels per day of oil from Iran on average between January and April.
Iran is also Turkey's second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia and sells about 10 billion cubic meters a year of gas under a 25-year supply deal.
Meanwhile, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Shariatmadari and Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci agreed to hold a meeting of the two countries’ joint economic commission in Tehran next month.
Meeting in the Turkish capital of Ankara, Shariatmadari and Zeybekci held talks on a range of issues, including ways to boost bilateral relations between Iran and Turkey in economic fields.
The two ministers also agreed to hold a meeting of the two countries’ joint economic commission in Tehran next month and open an exhibition of Iranian products and goods in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The Iran Solo Exhibition will open on October 25 and last until October 28, according to the commercial attaché of the Iranian Embassy in Turkey, Hamid Zadboum.
The event will be launched after an official ceremony with senior Iranian and Turkish officials in attendance, he said.
Iranian companies active in various sectors, including oil and gas and petrochemicals, automotive and spare parts, aerospace industries, wood and cellulose industries, metal industries, food industry, agricultural products, mining and mineral industries, construction materials, ceramic tiles, household appliances, cultural products And arts and crafts, banking, transportation, tourism, free zones and textile industries, are expected to participate in the exhibition.