TEHRAN (Iran News) –Chairman of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid Reza Hariri says 92% of Iran’s exports which are exported to China are oil products that that the government sector pursues it and the remaining 8% is carried out by the private sector and they are goods like carpet, dried fruits, saffron and handicrafts.
Speaking to ILNA, Hariri said that Iran is a good market for Chinese cars and added that lifting ban on imports of cars in Iran will provide good ground for Chinese cars to roll in Iran’s market. He added that since the ministry has set a price cap for the imported cars, it has made the country have less options and importers will be unable to think of European, Japanese and South Korean cars.
He added that the price of Chinese cars is in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 euros, adding that with the set price cap, Chinese cars would dominate major part of Iran’s car market and one cannot evaluate it as positive or negative move.
He went on to say that people’s purchasing power is clear and due to the economic ties and development, people’s purchasing power has strongly declined and purchasing a 20,000-euro car with inclusion of tax will not be economic and the question is how many people can buy cars with such a price.
Hariri noted that only some part of the middle class will be able to buy Chinese car with the price around one billion tomans and European cars will still be leading ones in the market with higher prices.
He added that during the sanctions era, Chinese companies invested in Iran and could take some part of Iran’s market, and by the way possibility for imports of Chinese cars is more than from other countries because the after sales services of Chinese cars in the country is possible and they can enter Iran’s market faster.
He reiterated that Chinese cars have gained acceptable rankings in the world and some of them have received European standard certificates but some other factors are important in imports of cars from China and maybe some old models at first are imported from China.
Hariri added that the role of private sector in the foreign trade is not vast, adding that 55% of non-oil exports of the country last year and in the first half of the current year has been non-oil products and in this field, the private sector cannot play colorful role, adding that 24% of the foreign trade is also the mineral products that it is in the monopoly of the government sector and it means that government companies account for 80% of Iran’s foreign trade.
