Tehran- According to the latest figures released by the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat, registering a 35-percent hike, Iran’s exports to Italy in the first nine months of 2016 increased up to €477 million from its

35-percent hike, Iran’s exports to Italy in the first nine months of 2016 increased up to €477 million from its previous €353 million in the same period in 2015, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

Iran-Italy trade stood at €1.428 billion during the said time, depicting a 17-percent rise from the previous level of €1.213 billion in the same time span in the preceding year, the report said.
From January to September 2016, Italy’s exports to Iran grew 10 percent up to €951 million from the previous €860 million in the first nine months of 2015.

In late November, Italy's economic development minister pledged to support business deals with Iran potentially worth billions of dollars, undeterred by fears U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could put slowly thawing international relations back on ice, Reuters reported.

Italian Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda said he would continue to work to strengthen trade ties, and travel to Iran in early 2017 along with Economy and Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan.

HJ/MA