Iran’s share in the Iraqi market stands at less than 20 percent, while the number should reach 25 percent given the two sides’ strategic neighborly ties, Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi Shirazi, the secretary general of Iran-Iraq joint chamber of commerce said in a meeting with Iraqi officials on Tuesday.
Sanjabi noted that during this meeting, questions were raised on why Iran has not been able to seize its real share in the lucrative Iraqi market, despite all the efforts made to boost the presence of Iranian products there. He suggested that by making customs offices on both sides of the border work 24 hours a day the goal would be within reach.
Iran is set to complete an array of projects in Iraq, worth 1,500 billion dollars, by 2020, Sanjabi vowed.
The head of the technical and engineering services of the committee for expansion of economic ties with Iraq, Amir Sadat, who also attended this meeting, announced that Iran seeks to dominate Iraqi car market with its sedans. Adhering to global-level standards is the only way to persuade Iraqis to buy Iranian-made cars, he asserted.
Iran and Iraq are poised to increase bilateral ties in industrial, mining, and banking sectors. The Export Development Bank of Iran has allocated $300 million to boost exports to Iraq, Sanjabi announced earlier this month. Iranian officials believe there’s a plenty of trade opportunities in Iraq that can be seized by the Iranian exporters once a project-based approach is adopted to take of advantage of these opportunities.
The head of the Iraqi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jaafar al-Hamdani, announced that the volume of trade exchanges between Iraq and Iran totaled around $12 billion last year, pointing to the possibility of doubling this figure in the coming years.
According to the I.R. of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), Iraq was the second leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014.
There are currently 15 terminals along the 1,600-kilometer border through which the majority of exports to Iraq take place.
Caption: Iran and Iraq are set to increase economic ties.
