Director General of West Asia Department of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) Farzad Piltan made the remarks in an interview with Mehr News Agency and stated that the value of the two countries’ trade exchanges was about $800 million over the previous years with the balance of trade in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the early 2010s, the volume of trade exchange between Iran and Saudi Arabia faced a declining trend and bilateral trade reached about $200 million and then, the relations between the two countries declined considerably after the severance of diplomatic ties, he added.

After the recent thaw in relations between the two neighboring countries, achieving $1 billion trade with Saudi Arabia in the short term and also $2 billion in the medium term have been on agenda based on the current and previous capacities of the two counties, Piltan noted.

He said Iran and Saudi Arabia enjoy high potentials and capabilities to promote their bilateral ties, particularly in the economic field.

In addition to importing and exporting goods, the two countries enjoy high potentials to cooperate with each other in the field of investment, joint industrial production and implementation of technical and engineering projects, etc., he stated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he referred to the Iran-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Commission meetings and pointed out that the 7th meeting of the Commission was held in Riyadh in 2005.

Turning to the revival of 20 cooperation documents inked between the two countries, he said suitable ways have been paved for the two countries with the possibility of updating and revising about 20 cooperation documents in the field of development of trade infrastructures.

Piltan reiterated many capacities for broadening trade cooperation between Tehran and Riyadh and pointed to some of them lime exporting iron products, dried fruits, cement and saffron, adding that Iran can import mineral and chemical fertilizers, poly ethylene and textile products from Saudi Arabia.

He went on to say that both countries can resume cooperation in the field of investment, joint industrial production and implementing the technical and engineering services projects.

Piltan also noted that with restoration of diplomatic ties and holding the joint commission, there will possibility for upgrading and reviewing some 20 documents of cooperation which had been signed between the two countries in the past.

He stated that there will be a chance for Iran to participate in Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Outlook plan as the Arab country wants to improve its ranking position in the world in terms of competitiveness from 25 to 10 by 2030.

Piltan went on to say that due to Iran’s need to foreign investment, attracting investment from Saudi Arabia in the free and special economic zones as well as attracting tourists will good opportunities for Iran for advancing its own strategic plans for development.

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She said 80,000 tons of textile floor coverings (like carpets and rugs) worth $417 million constituted the lion’s share of the exports in the previous year.

Iranian textile manufacturers imported 397,000 tons of textile raw materials worth $1.12 billion during the past year, which indicates 32 percent fall in terms of value and 35 percent drop in terms of weight year on year, Mehrabi further underlined.

According to the official, Iran’s textile and clothing industry needs some $4 billion to supply raw materials, equipment and machinery, $2.5 billion of which is imported.

As previously announced by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran’s non-oil exports stood at $44.3 billion in the previous year while $42.6 billion worth of commodities were shipped into the country.

IRICA data also show that the value of Iran’s non-oil trade stood at $4.87 billion during the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20, 2019).

As reported, the worth of non-oil trade during the first month of this Iranian calendar year fell 13.5 percent compared to that of the same month of the past year.

Although, the country recorded a non-oil trade surplus of $213 million in Farvardin of this year.

Iran exported 8.52 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $2.54 billion during the first month, registering a 7.66-percent increase in weight, but an 18.25-percent decline in value compared to the first month of the previous year.

Monthly non-oil imports amounted to 2.08 million tons worth $2.33 billion, up 7.75 percent in weight, but down 7.65 percent in value year on year.

Meanwhile, based on the latest data published by Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), the value of Iran’s trade with the neighboring countries stood at over $36.5 billion in the past Iranian calendar year, that is about 41 percent of the country’s total non-oil trade in the mentioned time span.

Iran shares border with fifteen countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

The country plans to launch 15 mega export projects to identify more target markets, the acting head of TPO has recently announced.

Mohammadreza Modoudi said with the implementation of these projects, which mainly focus on the markets of neighboring countries, identifying professional trade and promoting export of non-oil commodities will be put on agenda, Mehr news agency reported.

The official further referred to the $1.7 billion positive trade balance in the country’s non-oil trade in the past Iranian calendar year and said this positive balance was achieved through cooperation with the private sector.

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