Developments and prospects of trade regionalism of Iran

Moradpour, Farzad; MalekAkhlagh, Esmaeil; Akbari, Mohsen; Doustar, Mohammad

doi:10.22059/jcountst.2025.390303.1247

Developments and prospects of trade regionalism of Iran

Document Type : Original

Authors

Department of Business Management, Faculty of Management and Economics, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.

10.22059/jcountst.2025.390303.1247

Abstract

Trade regionalism, meaning the conclusion of agreements involving the reciprocal exchange of trade preferences (which, of course, also have trans-regional dimensions), has experienced rapid growth, wide coverage, and a high depth and impact in the international economy in recent decades, such that numerous and intertwined networks of trade regionalism agreements have covered almost all countries in the world, and more intensively, major exporting countries, and most global exports are also carried out in this format. Despite the fact that Iran has begun to activate trade regionalism since the 2000s, the results of these two decades of efforts, with few parties and a limited scope of agreements that have been implemented, have not had much trade impact and have played a small role in our country's exports. This article, with a qualitative content analysis approach and the use of expert opinions, identifies the obstacles to trade regionalism in Iran in two general categories: external obstacles and internal obstacles. The assessment of these obstacles regarding the Iran-Eurasian Union Free Trade Agreement, taking into account what can be inferred from the implementation of the interim agreement between them and its processes, is a sign of overcoming both external (Iran's international limitations in creating opportunities) and internal (domestic weaknesses in taking advantage of opportunities) obstacles, which could serve as a turning point after two decades of experience with trade regionalism in Iran. It seems that the timing of the conclusion of this agreement with the bottlenecks resulting from sanctions on both sides has been effective in this success.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Economics

حوزة موضوعی: ایران

Scope: Iran

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