TEHRAN – Iran’s non-oil trade with other countries registered a $100-million positive balance in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 – December 21), according to the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO).

“In the first nine months of the current year, our exports reached $31.9 billion while the imports stood at $31.8 billion,” IRNA quoted Hamid Zadboum as saying on Tuesday.

Mentioning the great potentials of the country’s neighbors for increasing exports, Zadboum said: “According to TPO studies, Iran’s 15 neighboring countries imported about $1.16 trillion of non-oil commodities in 2018.”

The official further underlined the free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and said: "Three of the mentioned 15 neighbors, namely Russia, Armenia, and Kazakhstan, are part of Eurasia and next year, when the free trade negotiations begin, we can make up to 85 percent of our trade with these countries under the free trade deal.”

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, 2019).

According to a report released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (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.

China, Iraq, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Afghanistan are among the top export destinations of Iranian products, while China, UAE, Turkey, India, and Germany are mostly the five major exporters of goods to Iran.

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 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.

EF/MA