Tehran, Iran, Feb. 7
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad – Trend:
A day after an Iranian trade official said the Persian Gulf nation is after boosting trade with Africa, the country’s top exhibitor told Trend about plans to stage exhibitions across the continent.
“Iran plans to stage exhibitions in Africa as Tehran attaches priority to the continent in bilateral trade,” Hossein Esfahbodi, deputy minister of industry, mine and trade, who also serves as the managing director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Exhibitions Company, told Trend.
“Considering the latest decisions, Africa has become Iran’s trade priority and Iran’s presence in exhibitions in the continent will definitely increase,” he added.
Hossein Esfahbodi further said that Africa is turning into a target market for the Iranian goods and services.
This is while Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) plans to annually add 20 percent to the country’s exports to Africa.
Farzad Piltan, a senior official with the TPO, said on Tuesday that the volume of bilateral trade between Iran and Africa over the first nine months of the current fiscal year (started March 20, 2017) stood at $763 million.
Iran’s exports to Africa in the first nine months of the current fiscal year amounted to $518 million.
Butane, steel products, bitumen, liquid propane, methanol and cement worth respectively $98 million, $56 million, $34 million, $20 million and $12 million formed the most important exports of Iran to Africa in the mentioned period.
