Official: Trade With Neighbors of High Importance to Iran
TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Spokesman of the Customs Administration of Iran (IRCA) Ruhollah Latifi has said trade with the neighboring states is a priority and highly important to Tehran.
Trade with the neighboring countries is of prime importance in every respect for the country, the official said.
He added that Iran’s foreign trade exchanges with neighboring states last year were 82.535389 tons of goods worth of $36,502,315,869.
Some 15 countries, including the UAE, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, as well as Saudi Arabia has water and soil borders, Latifi noted.
Shipments reached over 82.5 million metric tons in volume terms over the period, said Latifi, adding that trade with neighbors was responsible for 58% of the value and 60% of the volume of the entire foreign trade last calendar year.
Iraq was the top export destination with over $7.4 billion worth of shipments sent from Iran to the Arab country while Bahrain was down on the list at only $8.4 million, showed IRICA figures.
Shipments sent to the United Arab Emirates exceeded $4.6 billion while Turkey took delivery of over $2.5 billion just above Afghanistan at $2.38 billion, said Latifi.
The UAE topped the list of exporters to Iran with over $9.75 billion worth of cargoes sent to the northern neighbor over the year to March followed by Turkey at $4.4 billion and Russia at over $1.7 billion, he said.
IRICA has posted a $4.14 billion deficit for Iran’s foreign trade for the past calendar year as total trade reached $72.656 billion in late March.
Encouraging trade with neighbors has been a key part of Iran’s efforts to diversify the economy away from crude revenues as the country seeks to offset the impacts of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports.
Trade with the neighboring countries is of prime importance in every respect for the country, the official said.
He added that Iran’s foreign trade exchanges with neighboring states last year were 82.535389 tons of goods worth of $36,502,315,869.
Some 15 countries, including the UAE, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, as well as Saudi Arabia has water and soil borders, Latifi noted.
Shipments reached over 82.5 million metric tons in volume terms over the period, said Latifi, adding that trade with neighbors was responsible for 58% of the value and 60% of the volume of the entire foreign trade last calendar year.
Iraq was the top export destination with over $7.4 billion worth of shipments sent from Iran to the Arab country while Bahrain was down on the list at only $8.4 million, showed IRICA figures.
Shipments sent to the United Arab Emirates exceeded $4.6 billion while Turkey took delivery of over $2.5 billion just above Afghanistan at $2.38 billion, said Latifi.
The UAE topped the list of exporters to Iran with over $9.75 billion worth of cargoes sent to the northern neighbor over the year to March followed by Turkey at $4.4 billion and Russia at over $1.7 billion, he said.
IRICA has posted a $4.14 billion deficit for Iran’s foreign trade for the past calendar year as total trade reached $72.656 billion in late March.
Encouraging trade with neighbors has been a key part of Iran’s efforts to diversify the economy away from crude revenues as the country seeks to offset the impacts of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports.