Farhad Nouri said that in case the political ties between Tehran and Riyadh are restored, Iranian exporters can have considerable share of Saudi Arabia’s market.

He added when the two countries had good relations, Iranian exporters were active in Saudi Arabia and today in case the talks between Tehran and Riyadh bear fruits, Iranian traders will definitely be able to be active in this big market and they can have special programs.

Pointing to Saudi Arabia’s whopping oil revenues, he said Saudi Arabia’s market in terms of consuming goods is very vast and due to the cultural closeness and the issue of Hajj and pilgrimage and presence of veteran Iranian traders in this market, Iranian exporters are fully aware of the taste of the Saudis and they can definitely have active presence.

Noting that since expanding exports with the neighboring states is one of the priorities of the TPO in its new era, Nouri said that one of the markets which can create huge capacity for Iran’s exports is the market of the Persian Gulf states and Iran should seriously pursue its presence in this market.

He said due to needs of these countries, Iranian exporters should be active in different fields and they are able to have more colorful presence.

He reiterated that using the capacities of the neighboring states and the region is the priority of the organization and the country and Iran will be active in other markets considering its economic capabilities and potentials.

Meanwhile the director-general of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization’s Office of Arabian and African Countries Mr. Farzad Piltan in an interview with ILNA talked about the trade capacities between Iran and Saudi Arabia and said Saudi Arabia is one of Iran’s southern neighbors in terms of sea border with population over 30m people with good financial condition and low unemployment and inflation rate,  and the per capita in this country is very good.

He added that due to the cultural and religious commonalities between the nations of the two states, there are good opportunities for trade cooperation.

Piltan said that Saudi Arabia’s annual imports are around $140b and it is a good opportunity for Iranians to enter this market. He said before the ties between Tehran and Riyadh became cold and political ties were severed, their annual trade volume was around $400b and Iran’s share was 70% and in some years the trade balance used to change but usually their trade volume was between $300m to $400m.

He added that after their political ties were cut, the direct trade between them was also zeroed but according to some reports their indirect trade continued via the third party states like the UAE, and Iranian goods entered the Saudi market.

He expressed hope the talks between the two countries bear fruits and Iranian exporters could take advantage of it at best.

He said that Iran can export iron, steel, mineral fuel, mineral oil, medical equipment, stones and plastic materials.

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According to Piltan, Iran exported nearly 834,340 tons of commodities worth $340 million to African countries in the mentioned three months, IRNA reported.

The weight of exports in the said quarter also increased by 144 percent compared to the previous year’s same period.

During this period, Ghana with $151 million of imports, Algeria with $58 million, South Africa with $32 million, Tanzania with $25 million and Nigeria with $18 million were the top export destinations for Iranian products, according to Piltan.

Sudan with less than $17 million, Kenya with more than $14.5 million, Ivory Coast with $12 million, Somalia with $4 million and Egypt with about $1.5 million were also ranked sixth to tenth.

According to the official, the ease of restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the re-establishment of trade exchanges and events between the two sides were the most important factors contributing to the increase in the Islamic Republic’s exports to the African countries during the said period.

Back in February, Piltan had announced the opening of a €200 million credit line for the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) to use for developing exports of commodities and services to African countries.

“The mentioned fund has been allocated as part of a $2-billion support package which has been allocated by NDF for developing the country’s non-oil exports,” the official said.

In total, Iran traded 38.4 million tons of non-oil goods worth $20.9 billion with its trade partners in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year, up 25 percent and 50 percent in terms of weight and value, respectively.

The value of Iran’s non-oil trade rose 14 percent in the third Iranian calendar month (May 22-June 21), from its previous month, according to the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Rouhollah Latifi.

The official put the monthly non-oil export at 13.087 million tons valued at $4.369 billion, and that of the imports at 3.049 million tons worth $3.688 billion.

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