"Iran's exports to Turkey hit 110 million dollars, excluding oil and gas while its imports cost 369 million dollars in the year to March 2004," Ali Naqi Khamoushi, director of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, told Iranian and Turkish businessmen. He said Iranian and Turkish authorities were determined to increase their trade. "Turkey is now the third largest investor in Iran," he said, adding that the two countries have moved to remove many barriers. According to official figures, trade between the two countries has increased dramatically in recent years, and was valued at 2.4 billion dollars (2.0 billion euros) in 2003, a 90 percent increase on the previous year. Iran says the figure could surge to 10 billion dollars in the coming years.