TEHRAN – The value of the Iranian exports of technical and engineering services in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) stood at only $500 million despite the great capacities in this area, Head of the Association of Iranian Exporters of Technical and Engineering Services Bahman Salehi told IRNA.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, as well as developing African countries are the main target markets for the export of technical and engineering services, Salehi said.

“Iran’s neighbor Turkey, despite lower capacities in technical and engineering services, has snatched the lead from the Iranians and recorded an annual export of $35 billion,” he regretted.

Underlining Iran’s great capacities and capabilities in this field, the official noted that the exports of technical and engineering services reached $5 billion in the Iranian calendar year 1390 (ended in March 2012), saying: “that year we planned a 38 percent annual growth in our exports to reach the target of $25 billion of exports per year, but this goal was not realized.”

Salehi expressed hope that by removing the obstacles and problems in the way of exporters of services including banking and insurance guarantees, the presence of Iranian companies in the target markets would be strengthened and non-oil exports will be improved.

He referred to the reconstruction of Karabakh region in Azerbaijan as an example and added: "Considering the two countries neighborhood and lower transportation costs, as well as long-standing political relations [between Iran and Azerbaijan], the reconstruction of this region can be a good opportunity for exporters of Iranian technical and engineering services."

Salehi further referred to the $10 billion reconstruction forecast for the mentioned region, adding: "In this regard, our association has announced its readiness to implement at least $1 billion worth of projects in the region and even presented a proposal for the implementation of construction projects, power plants, transmission lines, etc.”

Iran’s policy of increasing non-oil exports as a strong strategy to nullify the U.S. sanctions is not limited just to the products, while the country is also determined to expand the export of technical and engineering services.

The head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has repeatedly said his organization is focusing on improving the exports of engineering and technical services to the neighboring countries as well as China, and India.

“Currently, the value of services exports in the world is at about $5.77 trillion and we are trying to increase Iran's share of such exports by removing barriers in this area,” Hamid Zadboum has stated.

EF/MA