TEHRAN- The value of Iran’s exports to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) increased eight percent during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20) compared to the first quarter of the past year, director-general of TPO’s office of Arabian and African countries announced.

As published on the TPO official website, Farzad Piltan said that Iran has exported commodities worth about $1 billion to the UAE during the first three months of this year.

The official also said that Iran’s quarterly export of products to the UAE has experienced a 40-percent growth in terms of weight to stand at 3.4 million tons.

Iran and United Arab Emirates (UAE) resumed bilateral trade exchange via sea, Fars news agency reported on June 5, quoting the ports affairs director of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO).

Ravanbakhsh Behzadian said that maritime trade between Iran and the UAE had been halted since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic.

"According to the new health guidelines and protocols, these business communications have resumed between the two countries," he added.

Increasing non-oil exports to the neighboring countries is one of the major plans that the Iranian government is pursuing in the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 20).

In May, First Vice-President Es'haq Jahangiri called for developing non-oil exports as the only way for realizing the motto of the surge in production.

“The Foreign Affairs Ministry should provide the necessary bases for the development of [non-oil] exports by expanding and strengthening economic diplomacy,” he said in a meeting on reviewing ways of boosting economic relations with the neighboring countries and supporting non-oil exporters.

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

Emphasizing that 15 neighboring countries and countries such as China and India and Eurasian members should be targeted as the most important export destinations of the country, Jahangiri called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies to strengthen economic diplomacy and focus on these export destination countries to provide the necessary infrastructure for the development of exports to these nations.

MA/MA