TEHRAN - Director-General of Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Office of Arabian and African Countries has said Iran and Lebanon are discussing a preferential trade agreement between the two countries.

“Since Iran and Lebanon have already announced their readiness to reduce trade tariffs, negotiations on the signing a preferential trade agreement between the two countries have begun, the initial lists have been exchanged and primary consensus has been reached,” Farzad Piltan told ILNA on Tuesday.

Lebanon is an important country in West Asia and the Arab world, which has very good trade relations with the world; Beirut and Tripoli ports are very active ports in the region, the official said.

Mentioning the history of trade between the two countries, Piltan said: “Iran's trade with Lebanon stood at about $100 million over the past few years, which, of course, has been declining due to the sanctions and the pandemic.”

In the Iranian calendar year 1396 (ended on March 20, 2018), the trade between Iran and Lebanon reached $124 million, of which $86 million was related to Iran's exports to this country and $38 million was imports from the country, he explained.

“The trade fell to $78 million in the fiscal year 1397 (ended on March 20, 2019), which included $66 million of exports and $12 million of imports. The two countries' trade volume was $33.8 million in the previous year (ended on March 20), of which $21 million were exports and $12.8 million were imports,” Piltan added.

He further referred to the amount of trade between the two countries in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), saying: "In the first five months of the current year, we had about $20 million of trade with Lebanon, of which about $12.7 million were Iranian exports and $7.5 million were imports.”

According to the official, the trade between the two countries in the mentioned five months increased by 226 percent in terms of value and 677 percent in terms of weight compared to the previous year’s same period.

Iran's main exports to the Arab country included iron or steel rods, floor coverings, glass, pistachios, textiles, tomato paste, active yeasts, polystyrene, animals, and electronic equipment, Piltan stated.

EF/MA