Iran’s first trade center licensed by the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran was inaugurated in Dubai, the UAE.
As Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture reported, the center will help Iranian companies find a foothold in the UAE, particularly Dubai that happens to be one of the main hubs of Iran’s trade in the region.
It also seeks to use advanced information technology to create a platform that facilitates the business activities of Iranian firms in the Emirati market by providing technical advice and consultation services.
The inauguration came after a senior Emirati official recently said the UAE would soon send a delegation to Iran as part of efforts to improve ties with Tehran.
"I hope that this is done the sooner the better, and all our friends are aware of it," Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, told reporters when asked when a UAE delegation would hold talks in Tehran.
The idea was to "turn over a new page" in relations, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has voiced the administration’s determination to broaden relations with the neighbors, including the UAE, calling for regular consultations between Tehran and Abu Dhabi.
Earlier this month, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s top national security adviser, visited Iran for high-level talks that are seen as a possible sign of thawing relations between the two countries.
He expressed Abu Dhabi’s readiness to expand cooperation with Iran, hoping that a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would usher in a new chapter in the two countries’ relations.
“We are the children of this region and share the same fate, so expansion of bilateral relations is on our agenda,” Sheikh Tahnoon said in a meeting with Raisi in Tehran on Monday, President.ir reported.
He also extended the Emirati president’s official invitation to Raisi to visit the Persian Gulf Arab country.
The senior Emirati advisor also met his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, and held detailed talks that he believes would be a turning point in bilateral relations, helping improve overall security in the region.
“Iran as a great and strong country in the region, enjoys a unique geopolitical position as it is the gateway between the east and the west,” he said.
According to Sheikh Tahnoon, developing brotherly relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran is a priority of the UAE.
“It is essential to establish expert working groups to work out areas of joint cooperation in various economic sectors and identify the impediments to remove them,” he added.
Shamkhani also expressed hope that the Emirati official’s visit would be the beginning of a new era of mutual relations and pave the way for the expansion of ties in all sectors.
Iran and the UAE have had business ties stretching back over a century, but they have been on different sides of certain issues, including the war in Yemen.
Sheikh Tahnoon’s visit comes amid Abu Dhabi’s efforts to deescalate tensions with Iran as part of a policy to pursue diplomacy and refrain from confrontation.
UAE Tops List of Exporters to Iran
With 8 million tons worth $10.1 billion, the UAE was the biggest exporter to Iran during the current fiscal year’s first eight months (March 21-Nov. 21).
Iran’s imports from the UAE, according to IRICA Spokesman Rouhollah Latifi, include livestock and livestock feed, tropical fruit, tea and coffee, spice, sugar, rice, dietary supplements, minerals, machinery, fabric and yarn, rubber, wood paper and paper pulp.
The UAE was also Iran’s fourth biggest export destination during the period with 7.3 million tons worth $2.9 billion of imports.
Iran’s exports to the UAE include nuts, seafood, fruit and vegetable, caviar, sweets and chocolate, spice, minerals, construction materials, cleansers, handicrafts and carpet, kitchen utensils, home appliances, musical instruments, clothing, bags, shoes and furniture.
Iran and the UAE traded 20.34 million tons of commodities worth $14.28 billion during the last Iranian year (March 2020-21), registering a 28% and 7% increase in weight and value respectively compared with the year before. The Arab country was Iran’s second biggest trade partner during the period.
“Our exports to the neighboring country hit 15.27 million tons worth $4.62 billion, showing a 27% and 6.5% rise in volume and value respectively YOY. The exports account for 13.6% and 13.4% of Iran’s total exports during the period under review. The country was Iran’s third biggest export destination after China and Iraq,” Latifi said.
“We imported close to 5.07 million tons of goods from this southern neighbor, worth $9.65 billion. The figures account for 15% and 25% of Iran’s total imports over the year under review respectively. The UAE was the second biggest exporter to Iran after China.”
Target to Double Trade
Iran-UAE trade is about $15 billion per annum and both countries are looking to double the figure to $30 billion by fiscal 2025-26, says Farshid Farzanegan, the head of Iran-UAE Chamber of Commerce.
Iran’s export of agricultural and food products to the UAE saw the least impact from sanctions and the spread of the coronavirus, he told IRNA.
According to Farzanegan, among the barriers to expansion of Iran-UAE trade are the Central Bank of the UAE’s strict policy regarding Iranians’ banking accounts, inefficiency of Iran’s road transport, particularly that of refrigerated containers, and lack of infrastructures for cold storage of agricultural products.
“Countless trade rules and regulations are constantly shifting. Iran-UAE trade would improve if there had been stability in terms of introducing laws,” he said.
The official noted that facilitating visits by economic operatives, improving banking ties, holding permanent exhibitions, employing active economic diplomacy regarding the UAE, Bahrain and the Saudi Arabia, which has the import capacity of up to $135 billion, will help improve business.
“Iranian products are entering Saudi Arabia through the UAE and Oman,” he added.
Farzanegan said opening an economic department in Iran’s Embassy in the UAE, launching an industry and trade department, and boosting tourism would be helpful.
“We at the Iran-UAE Chamber of Commerce are all set to transfer our data and information to these departments. Afghanistan is now exporting Iranian handicrafts and saffron to the UAE,” he added.
Noting that Iran needs to approve the laws related to the standards of the Financial Action Task Force, Farzanegan said, “Iran’s blacklisting by the global watchdog has interrupted trade with the UAE.”
