Iran is determined to expand its trade ties with Japan, Valiollah Afkhami Raad, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran said in his meeting with Tsuneyuki Kato, the executive manager of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) on Monday.
As reported by the IRIB news agency, in this meeting, Afkhamirad called for expanding bilateral economic relations as well as increasing the number of joint ventures. “Japanese investors are welcome to participate in various projects, including steel industry, mining, shipbuilding, auto industry, home appliances, construction materials, and medical equipment production,” he said.
The TPOI chief noted that the Rouhani administration’s positive attitude toward attraction of foreign investment has convinced many trade delegations from different countries to visit Iran during the past year and announce their readiness for launching joint projects here.
Afkhamirad then said that the good reputation of Japanese products in Iran can fuel the presence of Japanese brands in Iranian market.
“The mutual trade volume between the two countries hit $330 million in 2013,” he said. Iran exported $47 million of products to Japan and imported $283 million from the East Asian country during this period. However, “In 2011, Tokyo-Tehran trade hit $1.96 billion as Iran exported $548 million of non-oil products to Japan and imported $1.4 billion of various products from that country,” he added.
Kato, for his part, expressed his country’s readiness for increasing bilateral ties with Iran and said that the two countries must sign new agreements following JETRO delegation’s upcoming visit to Tehran. The Japanese will visit Iran next March. In 2008, Iran was the third leading crude oil supplier to Japan, accounting for 11.8% of Tokyo’s oil imports, after Saudi Arabia with 27.8% and the UAE with 23.8%. Currently, more than 30 Japanese corporations (mainly trading companies) operate in Iran.
In 2006, Japan was Iran’s second largest trading partner after China. At the time, crude oil accounted for approximately 96% of Japan’s total imports from Iran. Trade between Japan and Iran reached approximately $20.15 billion in 2008, with Japan’s Iranian imports accounting for $18.24 billion of the total value.
