TEHRAN – The director general of the West Asia Department of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has said Iran's exports to West Asia exceeded $10 billion in the first six months of the current Iranian year (March 21-September 22), registering a six percent increase, year on year.

According to Farzad Piltan, Iran's exports to the West Asian countries including Iraq, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey reached $10.346 billion in the mentioned six months to account for 45 percent of the country's total exports, the TPO portal reported.

During the mentioned six months, the Islamic Republic exported 30.387 million tons of goods to the countries of this region, which was 6.37 million tons or 25 percent more than the figure for the same period last year.

Among the West Asian countries, Iraq with $4.5 billion, the UAE with $3.0 billion, and Turkey with $2.4 billion were the top export destinations for Iranian commodities during the mentioned period, according to Piltan.

The official noted that Iran's import from West Asian countries during the first half of 1402 was about $13 billion, which accounts for 43 percent of the country's total imports during the above-mentioned period.

The Islamic Republic’s imports from the mentioned countries have increased by 18 percent in terms of value and 13 percent in terms of weight.

During the mentioned period, the UAE with about $9.0 billion, Turkey with $3.2 billion, Oman with $498 million, and Iraq with $236 million were the top sources of imports for Iran.

Piltan noted that TPO is following several programs for the development of the country’s non-oil trade with the countries of the region including the planning to increase the export of products with higher added value, improving the level of services of trade centers, developing export management companies, supporting joint production, re-export, transit, establishing communication between commercial platforms, holding exhibitions and exchanging business delegations.

EF/MA