TEHRAN – A 45-member trade delegation from Tehran Province left Iran for Iraq to review trade and investment opportunities in that country.

The Mehr News Agency quoted Tehran Province Trade Organization Director Seyyed Ali Mousavi saying the delegation will enhance economic relations with the private sector of Iraq and do marketing to develop non-oil exports to that country.
Members of the delegation include competent traders from Tehran active in the field of foodstuff, home appliances, medical equipment and technical and engineering services, he said.
During their visit they will hold meetings with Iraqi businesspersons and private sector figures and merchants from Baghdad and Najaf and take part in a conference between the two countries’ tradesmen, he added.
The group will also visit Iraqi wholesalers and meet that countries deputy commerce minister, Mousavi noted.
He went on to say exports to Iraq in the first 8 months of the Iranian calendar year (ended November 21) comprised 20 percent of the province’s exports worth $182 million.
Exports from Iran to Iraq reached $2.5 billion during the mentioned period, showing that Iraq has good potentials for investment, he said.
It is forecasted that Iranian exports of products to Iraq will soon go up to $4 billion and exports of technical and engineering services and energy will reach $2 billion.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iran has offered to create a free trade zone on the long border between the two countries.
The two states have created several border terminals and roads to facilitate transport of tradable items across their border.
In February 2009 Iran won a $1.5 billion contract to build houses in Basra.
Iran has also signed several energy deals with its neighbor, powering a number of Iraqi cities and towns with Iranian electricity