TEHRAN- The chairman of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce said that the value of Iran’s export to Syria has risen 36 percent in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 22), as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Keyvan Kashefi put Iran’s four-month export to Syria at $66 million.

Mentioning Iran’s plan for $200 million of export to Syria in the current Iranian calendar year, he said that if this objective is materialized Iran’s export to Syria will experience an 80-percent annual growth.

He also mentioned holding an exhibition of Iran’s capabilities in Damascus in the seventh Iranian calendar month Aban (starts on October 23), and said the Syrian Economy Ministry has issued related permit in this due.

Iran International Exhibitions Company and Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce will cooperate on holding the exhibit, he added.

In early May, Kashefi had said that trade is rising between the two countries.

“Currently Syria is moving towards reconstruction, and items in the fields of construction, bridge and dam building, electricity supply, and technical and engineering services are at the top of Iran's list of exports to this country”, the official said at the moment.

Syria's trade statistics show that trade with China and India has not changed in the past three years, but Iran's trade with Syria is on the rise, he added.

Saying that the two sides are still far from their targeted bilateral trade, the official said plans must be put in place to see an improvement in exports and imports with this country, and some important steps have been taken in this due over the past year.

In early March, the International Institute of Iran Industries Research (MPSIran) hosted a conference on Iran-Syria trade cooperation in Tehran.

The event was attended by senior officials from both sides including Deputy Director of Tehran Industry, Mining, and Trade Organization Houshang Rezaei Samarin, the Director-General of Ministry of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare for Intl. Affairs Ali-Hossein Shahrivar, Syria’s Commercial Attaché in Tehran Ahmad Khamis, and Hamid Hosseini, board member of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce.

The attendees of the meeting discussed a variety of issues in this event and explored ways for removing the barriers in the way of the expansion of two countries’ trade.

At the same time, Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce had also organized and held a conference on the business opportunities of the two countries at the place of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA).

The conference was attended by senior officials from the two sides including the head of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce, and the head of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce Fahd Mahmoud Darwish, as well as the Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboum.

MA/MA