TEHRAN (Iran News) – Auto parts manufacturers of Iran need nearly $2 billion to manufacture the auto parts required for producing 1.2 million vehicles in the country during the current Iranian year (started March 20), said the secretary of Iranian Auto Parts Makers Association.

Talking to IRNA on Wednesday, Maziar Beyglou said that the biggest problem that domestic auto parts manufacturers are currently facing is securing foreign currency.

Since the start of the year, no foreign currency has been provided for the auto parts manufacturers and they have been seriously facing problems for the shipments of their required raw materials, he complained.

Through great endeavors on the path of self-reliance in the auto parts manufacturing and omitting CKD (completely knocked-down) process in the domestic auto industry, at present, this industry has the lowest reliance on foreign currency in its history, he added.

“The last requirement of the auto parts manufacturers is expected to be supplied by Central Bank of Iran (CBI), and if the CBI cannot provide it, they should give us the permit so that we can secure foreign currency directly from exporters (who should offer their earned foreign currency in a system named NIMA to provide the required foreign currency for the importers of necessary commodities),” he further noted.

In January, Beyglou announced that Iran had achieved 80 percent self-sufficiency in the manufacturing of auto parts.

He expressed hope that self-reliance in this sector will reach 90 percent through domestic production of required raw materials.

Domestic parts manufacturers are able to play a key role in creating a boom in the country’s manufacturing and employment sectors, in addition to playing their leading role as the auto industry’s intermediaries, Beyglou said.

Mentioning the Industry Ministry’s strategies for promoting domestic production, he said: “Following the current policies, we will see the production of a number of new vehicles from domestic automakers in the coming years.”

In May 2019, Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Reza Rahmani issued a directive on “strengthening domestic manufacturing of imported auto parts.”

Addressing two of his deputies, Farshad Moqimi, deputy for industrial affairs, and Mohammad-Baqer Ali, the chairman of the board of Iran’s Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO), the minister emphasized using the highest potential of human resources for strengthening the domestic manufacturing of auto parts which are currently imported.