Close to $8.7 billion worth of non-oil commodities were exported from Shahid Rajaie Port in the southern Hormozgan Province during the first three months of the current Iranian year (started March 20).
This marks a whopping 84% hike compared with the last year’s corresponding period, IRNA reported, citing Ports and Maritime Organization’s data.
Some 20 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at the port, indicating a 34% increase year-on-year.
Shahid Rajaie is one of the main transit routes linking Central Asia to Eastern Europe. It accounts for 90% of Iran’s cargo operations.
Last week, Belgium’s Antwerp Port Authority signed a memorandum of understanding with Shahid Rajaie Port Authority.
Under the terms of the MoU, the respective port authorities of Antwerp and Bandar Abbas will join forces so that companies in both ports can collaborate and develop trade between Iran and Belgium.
This involves, among other things, exchanging information and statistics, participating in joint port development projects and collaborating in workforce training.
The accord has been agreed to run for five years and was signed by Eddy Bruyninckx, the CEO of Antwerp Port Authority, and Ebrahim Idani, the head of Iran Port and Maritime Organization’s Hormozgan Department, in the presence of PMO chief, Mahmoud Saeednejad, in Tehran.
The visiting Belgian delegation accompanying Bruyninckx comprised representatives of 12 companies active in the fields of transit and logistics, as well as Belgian Ambassador to Iran Francois del Marmol.
“Today we are restoring our trade ties with Iran, a country with great economic growth potential that is also a gateway to neighboring countries. Antwerp is perfectly situated to contribute to further trade with this country,” Bruyninckx told a press conference held at PMO’s headquarters in Tehran.
