TEHRAN - Head of the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) of Iran has said the country’s non-oil exports rose by 45 percent in terms of weight during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21) compared to the same period last year.

Mohammad Reza Modoudi put the volume of exports at 40 million tons, an increase of 12 million tons year on year, ISNA reported on Wednesday.

According to the official, non-oil exports from the country has experienced an upward trend in the current year so that nearly $11.5 billion worth of commodities have been exported since the beginning of the year.

Over the past few years, in a push for an oil-free economy, Iran has been trying to develop its domestic production and increase non-oil trade with its neighboring countries.

In July, Modoudi announced that the county’s non-oil exports has increased by 483 percent over the past 15 years.

In a statement published on TPO website on the occasion of the 15th establishment anniversary of TPO, Modoudi noted that the country’s annual non-oil exports is currently $44.3 billion, up $36.7 billion from $7.6 billion 15 years ago when TPO was established.

He added that non-oil exports to the neighboring countries has witnessed an even greater increase, with the figure jumping from $3.2 billion to $24 billion.

In June, Modoudi said that non-oil exports reached $8.4 billion in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year, up 8.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the country’s imports during the two-month period stood at $6.7 billion, down eight percent year on year.

The official also put the country’s exports of services at $1.6 billion, up 17 percent from a year earlier.

According to the data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, the country’s non-oil trade stood at $4.87 billion in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20).

Meanwhile, non-oil trade registered a $1.5-billion positive balance in the past Iranian calendar year (March 2018–March 2019).

EF/MG