TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) has said many of the countries in the region are seeking the Islamic Republic’s engineering and technical services and the country can provide them with such services, IRNA reported.

“The 13th government’s major policy is to expand presence in target markets, and many countries in the region are looking for our engineering and industrial capabilities,” Masoud Mir-Kazemi said on Tuesday.

Speaking in a meeting with some of the country’s major contractor companies, Mir-Kazemi noted that such companies should become more productive, value-creating companies.

"Maintaining international economic markets is more important than entering those markets, and to achieve this important, the government should pay special attention to organizing the private sector activities in target markets,” he said.

“We know the value of the work of the country's technical, engineering, and professional organizations. The talent and potential of these companies should not be taken for granted,” the official added.

Earlier this year, Head of the Association of Iranian Exporters of Technical and Engineering Services Bahman Salehi told IRNA that value of the Iranian exports of technical and engineering services in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20) stood at only $500 million despite the great capacities in this area.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, as well as developing African countries are the main target markets for the export of technical and engineering services, Salehi said.

“Iran’s neighbor Turkey, despite lower capacities in technical and engineering services, has snatched the lead from the Iranians and recorded an annual export of $35 billion,” he regretted.

EF/MA