Azerbaijan , Baku, March 31 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iran exported non-oil commodities worth $32.6 billion last Iranian year (March21, 2010-March 20, 2011), Mehr News agency reported quoting the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Shamseddin Hosseini as saying.
According to Hosseini, Iran's import reached $64 billion during this period.
The volume of transit goods passing through Iran has soared by 33 percent, Hosseini said.
Iran's non-oil exports have grown considerably since April 2010, with Asian countries the key destinations for the commodities.
Well over 84 percent of the goods were exported to Asian countries from March 2010 to January 2011.
China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan were the major destinations.
Europe which received more than 12 percent of the goods was the second major destination for Iranian exports.
Earlier Hosseini said that Iran could boost the volume of its non-oil exports following the model of neighboring Turkey, which exports $100 billion worth of non-oil goods annually.
"The potential of Iran's economy makes the growing measure possible to continue rapidly," he added.
Boosting non-oil exports is the top priority of the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to the minister.
Iran is the third-largest country in the Middle East and Central Asia in terms of exports and imports, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported.
The IMF said in its latest report titled 'Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia' that Iran's exports of goods and services would amount to $95 billion in 2010.