TEHRAN- Iran’s value of non-oil trade with other countries stood at over $42 billion during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22), the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

According to a report released by IRICA, the country exported 70 million tons of commoditized worth $20.948 billion and imported 16.5 million tons of products valued at $21.221 billion during the first half, IRNA reported on Sunday.

As reported, China, Iraq, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Afghanistan were the top five export destinations of Iranian products, while China, UAE, Turkey, India, and Germany were the five major exporters of goods to Iran in the first six months of the current year.

As previously announced by IRICA, the value of Iran’s non-oil exports stood at $44.3 billion in the previous Iranian year, while $42.6 billion worth of commodities were shipped into the country.

Iran shares border with fifteen countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Based on the data published by Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO), the value of trade with the neighboring countries stood at over $36.5 billion in the past Iranian calendar year, which is about 41 percent of the country’s total non-oil trade in the mentioned time span.

Iran plans to launch 15 mega export projects to identify more target markets, according to TPO former head.

Mohammadreza Modoudi said with the implementation of these projects, which mainly focus on the markets of neighboring countries, identifying professional trade and promoting export of non-oil commodities will be put on agenda, Mehr news agency reported.

The official further referred to the $1.7 billion positive trade balance in the country’s non-oil trade in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20, 2019), and said this positive balance was achieved through cooperation with the private sector.

MA/MA