TEHRAN – Iran’s First Vice-President Es'haq Jahangiri has called for developing non-oil exports as the only way for realizing the motto of surge in production, IRNA reported.

“The Foreign Affairs Ministry should provide the necessary bases for the development of [non-oil] exports by expanding and strengthening economic diplomacy,” he said in a meeting on reviewing ways of boosting economic relations with the neighboring countries and supporting non-oil exporters.

In the meeting, Jahangiri emphasized the importance of non-oil export and pointed to it as the most important factor in domestic production, saying: "We have no choice but to expand exports if we are looking for a surge in production."

He further underlined the need for expanding economic relations with the countries in the region and noted that the domestic market is limited and one of the requirements for a surge in production is to be able to supply domestic products in international markets.

"In order to boost domestic production, we need to look for foreign markets to supply our domestic products," he said.

Referring to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI)'s report on the need for $35 billion for importing basic goods and raw materials for production in the current Iranian calendar year 1399 (started on March 20), the first vice president added: “Let's focus on non-oil exports so that we don't have to worry about importing basic goods in the current year.”

Emphasizing that 15 neighboring countries and countries such as China and India and Eurasian members should be targeted as the most important export destinations of the country, Jahangiri called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant agencies to strengthen economic diplomacy and focus on these export destination countries to provide the necessary infrastructure for the development of exports to these nations.

Since the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran, the country has been following new strategies for reducing reliance on oil and moving toward an oil-free economy.

In this regard, promoting domestic production and developing non-oil exports have been introduced as the main goals of the government in the current Iranian calendar year.

The current year has been called the year of “Surge in Production” by the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

EF/MA