TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) says his organization is focusing on improving the exports of engineering and technical services to the neighboring countries as well as China, and India, IRNA reported.

“Currently, the value of services exports in the world is at about $5.77 trillion and we are trying to increase Iran's share of such exports by removing barriers in this area,” Hamid Zadboum said on Monday in a TPO meeting on the issue.

Also in the meeting, Farhad Nouri, TPO’s deputy head for exports of goods and services, said that the sanctions and banking problems have created obstacles to the development of the exports of technical and engineering services.

Realization of direct exports requires direct investment in the target markets which would guarantee the support of the projects in these markets, Nouri said.

According to the official data, the value of the country’s engineering and technical services exports reached $600 million in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21, 2019).

To support the export of engineering services, this section should be excluded from some of the country’s export bans so that next year, meaningful steps could be taken to develop exports in this sector, Nouri stressed.

According to the Association of Iranian Exporters of Technical and Engineering Services, Iran has the potential and capability to export technical and engineering services worth $25 billion in a year.

Taking this huge potential into consideration, boosting such exports would be an advantage for expanding the country’s foreign trade especially with the neighbors.

Some Iranian companies including Magna Group have already had a fruitful presence in the completion of infrastructure projects in several countries including Iraq and Oman and if such contribution will be expanded it will be a good source of export revenues while job creation.

EF/MA