TEHRAN (Iran News) –A member of presiding board of Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce Jalil Jalalifar in an interview explained why the Russian investors have preferred investment in the UAE to investment in Iran.
Speaking to ILNA, Jalalifar pointed to the current level of trade between Iran and Russia and said that although the trade between Iran and Russia has been accelerated, there is no access to the precise statistics and likely this year this trade volume will face a one-hundred percent rise and if the figure is not be more, it will not be definitely lower.”
He said that the most important point is that after the Russia-Ukraine war, Iran has had diversity in exports of its goods to Russia and this diversity is very important because in the past agro products and foodstuff were the major exporting items to Russia but now products from other categories like construction materials, chemical and petrochemical products and even industrial machineries have been added to the list of Iran’s exports.
Jalalifar went on to say that the trade volume between Iran and Russia has increased and it can even increase more, and most ships are loaded easily and now the exporters in Iran have to stand in line for loading of their exports on the ships and it bespeaks of considerable rise in Iran’s exports to Russia. He admitted that for a market (Russia) which imports some $294b annually, even 100 percent increase in Iran’s exports to this market is insignificant figure.
He said that the country has some essential problems for exports to Russia, adding that as long as these problems are not resolved, Iran will be unable to have considerable share of Russian market. He said that one of the problems is that the type of services which are provided to the traders. He said that in the world that all services are e-services at the customs and the ports, Iranians see the worst services and usually in northern customs these problems are seen more.
Jalalifar went on to say that if the Maritime and Ports Organization expects rise in the volume of exports and imports, it should increase the number of operators at the customs and remove hurdles. He noted that Russia has currently exports worth of $550b and it is now interested in exporting some of its products via Iran but the infrastructure for it are not ready.
He also criticized the administrative process and bureaucracy regarding trade, imports and exports, reiterating that because of these problems, the trade with Russia face challenges. He also criticized recent communiques of the Central Bank and said such decisions cause hinders in way of attracting investors especially the Russian ones.
Jalilifar noted that the arrival of a Russian investor will have great impact on the country’s economy but so far Iranians have been unable to attract Russian investors because they are aware of the problems for investment in the country and therefore they decide to change their direction and go for investments in the UAE and currently 40 to 50 applications per day from Russians for launching companies are registered in the UAE. He said that even currently Russians’ investment in Armenia has been on the rise and it is because of the overnight decisions and laws, reiterating that all should work for attracting more Russian investors which will lead to the economic boom in the country.
