As Iraq has reduced its imports from other countries due to the steep decline in international oil prices, costs of the bloody war with IS terrorists and the subsequent budget deficit, Iranian exporters need to strengthen their foothold in its market, a diplomat says.
Iranian firms should open offices in the Arab country, start joint production and investments with their Iraqi counterparts, create brands and supply goods directly to retailers in Iraq, the Iranian commercial counselor in Baghdad, Ebrahim Rezazadeh was quoted by ISNA as saying.
Figures released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show that $2.46 billion worth of non-oil goods were exported to Iraq during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 20-June 20), registering a 23% increase compared to last year’s corresponding period.
An estimated 20% of Iran’s total exports head for Iraq, Rezazadeh said earlier. “Iran’s exports to Iraq is three times its exports to Europe, Africa, the Americas and Oceania combined,” he noted.
Ninety percent of Iraq’s needs for goods is imported due to high production costs and expensive energy.
“Iraqis welcome Iranian products and there is ample opportunity for the presence of Iranian businesspeople there. To encourage trade between the two sides, we plan to open branches of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran in several Iraqi cities,” the news agency quoted the diplomat as saying.
The TPOI recently renewed a call on Iranian exporters to Iraq to obtain certificates of origin saying the Baghdad government had reimposed a ban on imports of goods lacking proper documents.
The regulation was initially put into effect in late May. However, due to the Iraqi officials’ announcement at short notice, long lines of unwitting cargo trucks were formed at the joint borders. To avoid chaos at the frontiers, implementation of the new certificate measure was postponed for Iranian companies up until now.
Certificate of origin is an international trade document that confirms that goods in a particular export shipment are produced or processed in a particular country.
