The volume of trade between Iran and Iraq has exceeded $12 billion and the figure is expected to hit $25 billion, said Hassan Danaeifar, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq.
The envoy made the remarks during the inauguration ceremony of Sumar border market in the western province of Kermanshah. “Iran has diverse economic ties with its neighbor Iraq and Kermanshah Province has a central role in such ties”, said the ambassador, adding that Sumar is the ninth border market on the Iranian side of the border.
Danaeifar further said that Sumar was shut for 49 years, emphasizing that the revival of the border market can revolutionize the local economy in Sumar-Mandali region.
The border market, in which more than 100 billion rials has been invested, was officially inaugurated on Sunday during a ceremony attended by the governors of Kermanshah and the Iraqi province of Dialeh. As its first commercial activity, the 40-hectare border market aims to export 200 tons of cement to Iraq. The provincial officials say if developed, the border market will be capable of dispatching 1,000 trucks into Iraq.
Currently, Parvizkhan border market near the city of Qasr-e Shirin is the major export channel through which 52% of the Iranian goods are exported to Iraq.
Earlier, Yahya Al-Es’haq, the head of Tehran’s chamber of commerce, said Iran-Iraq trade could take off once the current banking issues are resolved.
