TEHRAN- Iran exported $17.8 billion of non-oil commodities during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), IRIB reported on Monday.

The country exported 60.737 million tons of non-oil commodities in the mentioned time span.

As reported, Iran’s total foreign trade stood at $35.5 billion in the mentioned five months.

The top five importers of Iranian goods in the mentioned period were China, Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan, respectively, which imported a total of more than $13.377 billion worth of commodities together.

The country imported 14.126 million tons of commodities worth $17.739 billion in the said period.

China, UAE, Turkey, India, and Germany were top exporters to Iran with over $12.280 billion worth of exports all together.

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 Iranian year, while $42.6 billion worth of commodities were shipped into the country.

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.

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

Iran plans to launch 15 mega export projects to identify more target markets, according to TPO former head.

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 (ended on March 20, 2019), and said this positive balance was achieved through cooperation with the private sector.

EF/MA