A total of $73 million worth of commodities were exported to Syria during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 20-Nov. 20), according to director general of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Arab and African Affairs Department.
“Syria, in return, exported close to $10 million worth of goods to Iran over the same period,” Farzad Piltan was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Last year (March 2019-20), bilateral trade between Iran and Syria hit $170 million, with Iran’s exports accounting for around $160 million of the total sum.
“Our main exported products last year were auto spare parts, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel bars, pipes and profile, gas turbine parts, copper wires, electrical conductors, infant formula, pistachio, faucets, sodium carbonate and yeasts, while our imports mainly included phosphate, olive oil, vegetables, fruit and textile.”
Piltan noted that up until the fiscal 2010-11, bilateral trade stood at $550 million.
“Our exports accounted for $520 million of overall trade and the remaining $30 million were Syrian exports to Iran. But trade figures later nosedived until the fiscal 2018-19, when they picked up again and reached $105 million,” he said.
Though Iran-Syria trade has been affected by conflict in that country, hefty infrastructural damage inflicted on many Syrian cities calls for renewed cooperation in the field of technical and engineering services in which Iran has a competitive edge.
“During 2008-19, Iran’s exports of technical and engineering services to Syria exceeded $2.2 billion. These include, but are not limited to, the launch of automotive production lines, construction of electricity substations, bridges, refineries, silos, power plants, cement, glass and flour production factories and the design and installation of electrical transformers and water facilities,” he said.
The TPO official said Tehran and Damascus have a free trade agreement in place, which can have a significant impact on easing trade between the two sides, adding that Syria’s high demand for agricultural and food products, home appliances, pharmaceuticals, construction material, sanitary-ware, agro machinery and equipment, and Iran’s capabilities in these areas, coupled with the reasonable prices and high-quality on offer, can help boost commercial interactions between the two sides.
Syria and Iran concluded a free trade agreement in February 2012, which called for reducing customs duties to 4% on goods traded between the two countries, cancelling all quantitative restrictions and lifting the ban on imports with similar effects.
The agreement, which came into force on March 12, 2012, allowed commercial trucks to pass between the two countries through Iraq.
In May 2015, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad signed a law ratifying a $1 billion credit line from Iran.
The Syrian news agency SANA reported that the two government-owned banks, the Syrian Commercial Bank of Syria and Export Development Bank of Iran, signed a credit line agreement that helps Syria buy goods and fund projects.
Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis signed with Iran’s First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri 11 agreements in various fields, during Jahangiri’s visit to Syria in January 2019.
The agreements included rail infrastructure, housing, public works, geomatics, investment, anti-money laundering, cultural and educational cooperation, in addition to a memorandum of understanding for cinematic collaboration between the National Film Organization in Syria and Iranian Organization of Cinema and Audiovisual Affairs.
The Syrian-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors trade agreements between Iran and the Syrian government, was founded in January 2019.
Last September, the chamber concluded a contract with an Iranian company to export Syrian olive oil to Iran, with a quantity that could reach 5,000 tons annually.
A meeting between officials from Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture and those of Damascus Chamber of Commerce in Tehran earlier this year resulted in a set of new agreements between the governments of Syria and Iran in various fields.
During the meeting held on Feb. 4, deputy chairman of the joint chamber of commerce, Fahad Darwish, announced the completion of the Iranian center in the Damascus free zone and announced that two new centers will be established, Syrian nonprofit media organization Enab Baladi reported.
Darwish said the Iranian trade center in Damascus free zone, which will distribute Iranian goods in Syria and neighboring countries, is likely to start operations within three months.
He also announced the establishment of two joint free zones between Syria and Iran in the town of Hasya in the province of Homs and the province of Latakia, according to al-Watan newspaper.
