Bilateral trade with Brazil is estimated to reach $2 billion per year, head of Iran-Brazil chamber of commerce, Fakhroddin Amerian, said on Sunday, noting that Iran’s share in trade with the South American country is less than $100 million a year.
“Iran’s exports to Brazil can potentially be increased to $500 million a year. The target is within reach should the government and the private sector cooperate with each other,” he was quoted by IRNA as saying, noting that Iran’s major exports to Brazil include saffron, raisin, pistachio, industrial products and carpets.
He said Iran’s export of hand woven carpets to Brazil amounts to $20 million a year, adding: “Iran’s imports from Brazil include corn, soya, sugar, meat and industrial machinery among others.”
Pointing to the recent visit to Brazil by Mahmoud Hojati, Iran’s agriculture minister, he said: “The minister asked the Brazilian government to be more cooperative towards Iranian traders in return for Iran’s import of Brazilian meat.”
Transnational Agriculture
Amerian went on to say that “transnational agriculture” is among the government’s broader programs in line with resistance economy, which he described as “the best possible option” before Iran’s current economic situation.
“An Iranian investor has bought 60,000 hectares of land in Brazil for corn cultivation, which can supply 30% of Iran’s total annual need for corn” he said.
Brazil is the largest country in both South America and the Latin American region. It is the world’s fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population. It is also the largest economy in Latin America, the world’s seventh largest economy at market exchange rates and the seventh largest in purchasing power parity (PPP), according to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Brazil has a mixed economy with abundant natural resources. The Brazilian economy is expected to become one of the five largest in the world in the decades to come.
Brazil’s diversified economy includes agriculture, industry, and a wide range of services. The country is also one of the largest producers of oranges, coffee, sugar cane, cassava and sisal, soybeans and papayas.
Industries from automobiles, steel and petrochemical to computers, aircraft and consumer durables- account for 30.8% of the gross domestic product while agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging, and fishing account for 5.1% of the GDP.
Iran-Brazil economic and diplomatic relations are cordial. Tehran and Brasilia signed a document to bolster cooperation during the G-15 Summit in Tehran in 2010.
Relations took a new turn during former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s tenure.
