Iran Urged to Focus on Trade With Eurasia
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization says the country should take advantage of current agreement with Eurasian Union and it should boost its trade with Eurasian states to at least $2b.
Speaking at a conference on initiation with opportunities and prerequisites for developing economic ties with Eurasian Union states, Hamid Reza Zadboum said that wherever the government has paid attention to the private sector, the country has become successful in exports, adding that government should have more plans for the role of the private sector.
He then added that Iran’s non-oil trade with other countries registered a $100-million positive balance in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 – December 21).
“In the first nine months of the current year, our exports reached $31.9 billion while the imports stood at $31.8 billion,” IRNA quoted Zadboum as saying on Tuesday.
Mentioning the great potentials of the country’s neighbors for increasing exports, Zadboum said: “According to TPO studies, Iran’s 15 neighboring countries imported about $1.16 trillion of non-oil commodities in 2018.”
The official further underlined the free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and said: “Three of the mentioned 15 neighbors, namely Russia, Armenia, and Kazakhstan, are part of Eurasia and next year, when the free trade negotiations begin, we can make up to 85 percent of our trade with these countries under the free trade deal.”
Iran’s value of non-oil trade with other countries stood at over $42 billion during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22).
According to a report released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the country exported 70 million tons of commoditized worth $20.948 billion and imported 16.5 million tons of products valued at $21.221 billion during the first half.
