Iran has exported $5.12 billion worth of commodities to neighboring Iraq during the first ten months of the current Iranian year (ending March 20), Majid Ghorbanifaraz, an official at Iran’s trade promotion organization (TPO) said on Friday.
“Iran’s exports of technical and engineering services to Iraq reached $400 million during the first ten months of the current years,” he was quoted by ILNA as saying, noting that Iran has imported $52 million worth of different commodities from Iraq.
Referring to an exclusive trade fair that Iran is slated to hold in Baghdad between 16 and 19 February, he said: “This is going to be one of the biggest fairs Iran will be holding in Iraq,” expressing hope that Iranian traders will make the best of the opportunity to showcase their products.
Iranian companies plan to showcase various commodities, ranging from building materials to water and electricity, car and medical equipment, food, petrochemical and engineering products.
Elsewhere, Mohammad Fatemian, a senior official at Iran’s ministry of industry, mine and trade, said a major portion of Iran’s ceramics and tile production are exported to the Iraqi market.
“Potentially, Iran can be the world's fourth biggest producer of tile and ceramic,” he said, noting that Iran’s exports of such products are limited to a few countries with Iraq accounting for 75% of the exports.
Trade between Iran and Iraq has experienced a twenty-fold increase over the past decade following the fall of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein. However, both parties believe that through strategic trade agreements mutual trade could reach $25 to $30 billion a year.
In December last year, the head of Iran’s TPO, Valliollah Afkhamirad, announced that Iran and Iraq had reached a trade protocol to promote mutual cooperation. He also announced the establishment of a new joint bank with the private sector’s assistance to facilitate financial transactions between the two sides.
