Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.23/ Trend F.Milad
Iran's non-oil exports will reach $59 billion during the next Iranian calendar year, which begins on March 20, Deputy Director of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi, said.
Iran needs to boost its non-oil exports to supply its required foreign currencies for importing goods, the INA News Agency quoted Kermanshahi as saying.
He went on to note that by the end of the current Iranian year, Tehran will export some 90 per cent of its total pistachio output of 200,000 tons.
Iran exported some 56.03 million tons of non-oil goods (excluding gas condensates) worth some $26.68 billion for the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012.
China, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, and South Korea were the main destination markets for Iranian goods, the IRNA News Agency reported.
Tehran also imported 32.5 million tons of goods worth some $43.76 billion in the mentioned period.
The United Arab Emirates, China, Germany, Switzerland, South Korea, Russia, Netherlands, Italy, India, and Turkey were also the main exporters of goods to Iran.
Iran's Chamber of Commerce official Asadollah Asgaroladi said on Sunday that the country's non-oil exports will surpass $50 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).
Non-oil imports are valued at $60-65 billion, he said, adding that non-oil exports should approach the imports.
At the beginning of 2012, the U.S and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Iranian Central Bank.
U.S. sanctions entered into force on June 28, while EU bans on Iranian oil imports came into force on July 1.
In October, the EU approved another major package of economic sanctions on Iran.
