TEHRAN – Chairman of the Iran-Qatar Chamber of Commerce Adnan Mousapour has said that the volume of trade exchanges between Iran and Qatar registered a 45% rise in 2022 compared to the year before to reach $208 million.
Mousapour made the remarks on the sidelines of the Fifth Export Potential Exhibition of Iran, also known as “Iran Expo 2023”.
Agricultural products, dried nuts and construction materials were among the most important products exported from Iran to Qatar during the period, he added, Financial Tribune reported.
Mousapour emphasized that establishing trade and economic relations with neighboring countries both in the short- and long term will benefit the economy.
The world’s biggest contract for saffron trade was signed between Iran and Qatar on Sept. 18, in the presence of Iran’s Ambassador in Doha Hamidreza Dehqani Poudeh and Qatar’s Minister of Finance Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari.
Based on the contract, a total of 200 tons of saffron worth around $300 million will be processed and exported from Iran to neighboring Qatar.
Al Kuwari said in the meeting that Qatar is ready to cooperate with Iran in processing saffron on par with global standards.
Experts believe this contract is one of a kind, and can have a positive impact on Iran’s domestic saffron market and help export processed saffron, creating value added for the precious Iranian spice.
Iran produces over 90% of all saffron produced in the world, 80% of which are exported. However, the share of Iran in the global trade of saffron is disproportionately low, as many customers of the Iranian spice buy it in bulk and reexport after packaging it to third countries.
Iran and Qatar began forging stronger economic ties after a number of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Doha in 2017 and imposed a blockade on the Persian Gulf country.
Following the development, Iranian exporters vied for the Qatari market in the absence of Doha’s traditional Arab partners.