TEHRAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian and Turkish presidents vowed to boost cooperation in diverse economic and trade areas when meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Iran's capital Tehran on Wednesday for key talks on bilateral ties as well as regional and international issues.
In a ceremony held for signing four documents of cooperation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran and Ankara will expand their banking cooperation and use their own currencies for trade transactions.
To facilitate the transit of goods between the two countries, three border points will be designated to provide round-the-clock services for the traders, Rouhani said.
Tehran is ready to pave way for investments by the Turkish side in tourism, petrochemical industry and transit, which is welcomed by Ankara, he said.
Besides, Iran urged Turkey to extract more natural gas from the Islamic republic's gas fields and increase investments in its energy sector, Rouhani added.
Iran and Turkey are determined to increase trade and economic transactions to 30 billion U.S. dollars from the current level of 10 billion U.S. dollars annually, he pointed out.
For his part, Erdogan said with the enhancement of economic relations between the two neighbors, relations will be further improved in a "positive direction."
He said, in the fourth meeting of Turkey-Iran High Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Tehran on Wednesday, the two sides discussed a roadmap to achieve the target of 30 billion U.S. dollars in their trade transactions.
Besides, important talks were held regarding tourism, energy and defense cooperation and the relevant ministers were tasked to take steps for the follow-up measures, Erdogan said.
To reduce the currency pressures in the market, the central banks of both countries will adopt policies for the use of the currencies of Iran and Turkey in their bilateral trade deals, he said, adding that, in line with the banking decision, Iranian and Turkish banks will open branches in Turkey and Iran respectively.
Erdogan said that Turkey encourages its businessmen to invest in Iran's tourism and energy sector. Turkey is ready to hand over its experiences in tourism industry to the Islamic republic, he maintained.
On Wednesday, Iran and Turkey signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation in banking, customs and media sectors. The other document was signed between National Library and Archives Organization of Iran and State Archives of the Prime Minister's of the Republic of Turkey.
During his day-long official visit, Erdogan is also scheduled to meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
