TEHRAN – The value of Iran’s exports to India has risen 240 percent during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), as compared to the same period of time in the past year, an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) announced.

Reza Seyed Aqazadeh, the director-general of the TPO’s Asia and Pacific Office, said, “In the first quarter of the current year, India was our fifth largest export market, accounting for about 3.2 percent of our exports. In terms of imports, India was the sixth largest supplier to the Iranian market, accounting for 2.5 percent of the Iran’s imports.”

“In the previous year, when the coronavirus outbreak led to the closure of roads and the semi-closure of offices, this situation affected trade between Iran and India and reduced our trade relations; but in the first quarter of this year communication increased dramatically, compared to the first quarter of the past year as the roads were closed”, he added.

Regarding the preferential trade agreement between the two countries, he said: "The most important issue that we are working on within the framework of the TPO’s plans in order to increase and develop trade is the preferential tariff agreement.”

“Many of the goods we export to India have a very good capacity in this country; there is good demand and we can have a good development in increasing exports to India”, the TPO official said, adding, “In general, it can be said that there is an export capacity of more than $25 billion to India.”

Back in early May, during an online meeting between TPO Head Hamid Zadboum and Indian Ambassador to Tehran Gaddam Dharmendr, the two sides had expressed dissatisfaction with the current levels of trade between the two countries and called for serious measures to be taken for reviving the mutual economic exchanges.

Speaking in the meeting, Zadboum stressed the need to remove barriers to mutual trade and find new ways to develop trade relations between the two countries.

The official noted that the two sides should resume discussion on the preferential trade agreement and exchange the list of commodities that are going to be included in this agreement. He also noted that the necessary measures should be taken to bring back petrochemical, industrial, and steel commodities into the basket of Iranian exports to India.

In this regard, the two sides agreed to work on the raised issues and implement them as soon as possible.

The officials also concluded to make necessary coordination for officials of health, customs and standards organizations of the two countries to meet through video conference in near future to resolve problems and enhance mutual cooperation.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides stressed the two countries' determination to develop and improve economic and trade relations and agreed to discuss and implement the issues through video conferencing, to prepare the condition for face-to-face meetings after the pandemic is over.

India is the only foreign country that is currently participating in a major development project in Iran despite the U.S. sanctions.

The Chabahar Port development project is the anchor for the expansion of economic relations between the two nations.

India is going to install and operate modern loading and unloading equipment including mobile harbor cranes in Shahid Beheshti Port in Chabahar.

The strategic port in southeastern Iran is the only ocean port on the Makran coast and it has a special place in the country's economic affairs.

MA/MA