TEHRAN — Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to improve Iran’s date trade, IRNA reported on Monday.

The MOU is the result of UNIDO’s two-year involvement in enhancing Iran date production, packaging and export. Feasibility studies, training classes and workshops and offering financial aid are among the assistances the memo sets forth for further development and export of Iranian dates.

Improvement in packaging and marketing is also among the projects initiated by this MOU, and 200,000 dollars is to be spent on overall studies and projects in the first stage of the work.

The agreement on this joint cooperation was inked in the presence of the officials from both organizations.

Iran is the third largest exporter of date in the world after Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The country’s annual production stands at 900,000 tons of which 95,000 tons valued at $62 million is exported. ML/RA END MNA