Iran’s share in the Iraqi market has grown by 5 percent in the past year, and after Turkey Iran is now Iraq’s second largest partner, Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi, Secretary General of the Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce stated Saturday.
Sanjabi said that while speaking at a symposium on new investment opportunities in Iran, which was held Thursday in the southern Kish Island with the aim of identifying goods and services which are capable of meeting the demands of the Iraqi market. “Our main goal is to increase Iran’s share in the Iraqi market up to 25 percent,” Khabareghtesadi quoted him as saying.
Besides, Iran is preparing a bill for the development of tourism ties with Iraq. According to initial estimates, the number of Iraqi citizens travelling to Iran by March 2015 will exceed 3.5 million per year. Accordingly, “a workgroup has been set up to prepare a systematic program to increase the exchange of tourists between Iran and Iraq,” Sanjabi added.
Given the development of halal tourism and the affordable prices here, Iran has become the number one travel destination for Iraqi tourists.
Launching flights from Iraq to Kish Island has opened a new way for Iraqi citizens and businessmen to explore the tourist attractions in Iran and consider the alternative investment opportunities in Iran. Sanjabi stressed that more flights are needed between Iran and Iraq to increase bilateral tourism and business ties.
He added that the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce is ready to provide any kind of support for those Iranian businessmen who wish to invest and promote their businesses in Iraq, in a bid to increase economic exchanges between the two neighbors.
Kish Exhibits
The first international exhibition of stock exchange, banks, insurance, and privatization and the sixth exhibition of investment opportunities were held in Kish from October 21-24.
Hamidreza Shirzad, head of the investment department of the Kish Free Zone Organization, stated that hosting such exhibitions creates a golden opportunity for the officials of numerous organizations and institutions to brainstorm ideas on how to develop business relations with foreign countries.
The construction of a mercantile exchange in Kish almost complete, he said. “Soon, commodities of various types will be traded through the Kish mercantile exchange,” Shirzad said.
As part of an agreement between the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) and the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), it has been stated that a group of petrochemical products will only be exported through Kish stock exchange, Shirzad added.
In addition, the Kish stock exchange can act as a new market through which Iraq can present its petrochemical and oil products, he said.
Local official say that Kish possesses a huge investment potential, and that’s why many foreign investors have traveled to the beautiful Persian Gulf island in the past few months. The Kish Free Zone Organization has started easing the bureaucratic processes and provides all other forms of necessary support to foreign and domestic investors.
The cooperation between Iran and Iraq through Kish centers around trade and tourism. The KFTZO has, therefore, announced its readiness to collaborate with Iraq’s tourism officials and travel agencies in this regard.
