TEHRAN- Iran intends to offer 50 percent tax discount to foreign investors who will launch joint production lines in Iran, aiming to export at least 20 percent of products, Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammadreza Ne’matzadeh said.

He made the remarks in a ceremony which was held in Tehran on Tuesday to mark the National Exports Day.

“We should move toward flourishing exports if we want to achieve an economic growth of eight percent in the country by the next five years”, the Mehr News Agency quoted Ne’matzadeh as saying.

He said Iran’s exports of non-oil products rose 20 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 20).

According to statistics, Iran accounted for 0.34 percent of the global exports of goods and 0.18 percent of service exports in 2014, the minister said.

The country was ranked the 51st in the good exports among 229 countries and 60th in the service exports among 152 countries in the last year, he added.

The strategic plan of Iran’s Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry has envisaged the country’s exports of non-oil goods and services rising to near $190 billion in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) from $63 billion in the previous year, Ne’matzadeh stated.

Traditionally, Iran relies heavily on oil for revenue. With sanctions restricting oil exports, the government has worked to advance other parts of the economy. 

MA/