TEHRAN - Iran’s trade with the members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) exceeded $13.11 billion in the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2021-January 20, 2022) to register a 41 percent increase year on year, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said.

According to Ruhollah Latifi, the trade with the mentioned countries also increased by 25 percent in terms of weight in comparison to the figure for previous year’s same 10 months, IRNA reported.

As reported, during the said 10 months Iran traded over 24,758,827 tons of commodities worth $13,110,812,971 with ECO member countries including Turkey, Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Iran exported 21.035 million tons of commodities worth over $8.419 billion to the said nations in the mentioned period.

As reported, the Islamic Republic’s export to ECO members in the said 10 months increased by 36 percent and 51 percent compared to the figures for the previous year in terms of weight and value, respectively.

He said major export destinations of the Iranian goods in the said union were Turkey with about $4.530 billion of imports, Afghanistan with $1.535 billion, Pakistan with $1.018 billion, and Azerbaijan with $438.332 million.

Petroleum products, dairy products, foodstuff, fresh and dried fruits, juices and citrus fruits, carpets, saffron, fish, caviar, ornamental aquatic products, various stones, and construction equipment, clothing, industrial equipment, bags and shoes, medicine, and health supplies, as well as plastic products, were Iran’s main exported items to ECO members, according to Latifi.

Meanwhile, the country imported 3.722 million tons of goods valued at over $4.691 billion from the ECO member countries, with Turkey, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan being the top sources of imported goods.

The value of Iranian imports from the ECO union increased by 26 percent compared to the previous year’s same time span, the official said.

Basic goods, industrial machinery, raw materials for production, and medical supplies and medicine, were the top imported goods from ECO member states.

Iran and ECO members had traded more than 23.723 million tons of goods worth $11.71 billion during the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2021), of which the share of exports was 18.419 million tons of goods worth $6.890 billion and the share of imports from these countries was 5.312 million tons worth $4.819 billion.

The Economic Cooperation Organization or ECO is an Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization that was founded in 1985 in Tehran by the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.

EF/MA