TEHRAN (Iran News) –  Iran Seeks More Share of Qatar’s Market. Deputy for International Affairs at Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Mr. Hessameddin Hallaj says unfortunately Iran is not among the top trade partners of Qatar and Qatar’s trade partners are mostly European, China  and Turkey.

On Sunday, Iran-Qatar Joint Chamber of Commerce and TCCIMA signed a MoU on expanding economic and trade exchanges between Iran and Qatar.

In the meeting, Hallaj talked about the current trend of trade between Iran and Qatar and said Iran’s political relation with Qatar is very good and there are several countries that Iran has good relations with them but unfortunately the country has not taken advantage of this good relation to boost its trade.

He said the reason behind this failure is that the country’s political negotiators are not fully aware of economic issues and the views of the private sector are not taken into consideration.  He added so we reach a point that we have been unable to restore good economic relation with a country like Qatar which has had good relations with us as this Arab country has been a mediator country in the region.

Pointing to Iran’s share of Qatar’s market, Hallaj said that unfortunately Iran’s share of Qatar’s annual $26.7b imports is only around $360m, adding that unfortunately Iran is not among Qatar’s top 20 trade partners and mainly European states and Turkey are Qatar’s major trade partners.

He went on to say that the chamber is working on a 10-year outlook for trade with Qatar in order to plan short-term projects in different fields like the food industries, oil products and the commodities which are the priorities of Qatar’s market.

Hallaj noted that Iran’s imports from Qatar are not significant and the total volume of Iran’s imports from Qatar is around $30m that they are mostly electric, electronic, audio and visual devices and tires.

He went on to say that the country should use Qatar as a country for skirting sanctions and to boost the trade with this Arab state in order to encourage them for expansion of ties.

He referred to Turkey’s good performance in Qatar’s market and said the Turks work very well in Qatar as they usually set long-term goal for cooperation in their target countries. He added that Turkey beside China and European states are Qatar’s major trade partners, admitting that Turkey has strengthened its foothold in Qatar’s market.

Hallaj went on to say that some major events are to happen in Qatar that Iran can take advantage of it like the Soccer World Cup and the Asian Games. He said the chamber has some long-term plans which are not limited to these two major sport events and urged economic activists to help the chamber for boosting economic activities in Qatar for cementing Iran’s foot hold in this friendly Arab country.

He also noted that the chamber is to boost its cooperation with Persian Gulf states through signing the MoUs.

Then Chairman of Iran-Qatar Joint Chamber of Commerce Adnan Mousapoor, for his part, pointed to the significance of developing trade ties between Iran and Qatar especially in boosting its handicraft exports on the eve of the Soccer World Cup in Qatar, adding that the event is the best opportunity for Iran to pick up its handicraft exports to Qatar.

The Secretary General of TCCIMA Mr. Bahman Eshqi, for his part, in the meeting said that TCCIMA expects the government and the decision-making bodies to help the chamber for boosting trade with Qatar.