“We have only sent commercial attachés to Afghanistan and Iraq. We have been planning to send new envoys, but the procedure was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mojtaba Mousavian, the deputy head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, was quoted as saying by the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mining and Trade.
The official noted that the new attachés and their families have to be vaccinated and when they arrive at the designated country, they will have to spend a specific period in strict quarantine.
“TPO plans to dispatch three more commercial envoys to Turkey, India and Pakistan by August. The one to Turkey has already been selected yet we are going through the qualification process of the candidates with the other two countries. We will also be considering the dispatch of envoys to Syria, Lebanon and Kazakhstan in the near future,” he said.
Mousavian said most of these countries are neighboring states, which happen to be Iran’s main trade partners, adding that due to complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the heavily imposed US sanctions on the Iranian economy, the country has prioritized trade expansion with 15 neighbors, as well as India and China.
TPO requires candidates to have a strong command of language in the destination country and be familiar with legal issues, management, diplomatic etiquette, international relations, negotiation methods as well as production and trade systems and regulations.
Iran exported $16.64 billion worth of non-oil commodities to its 15 neighboring counties during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2020-Jan. 19), more than $10.7 billion of which were shipped to Arab states, according to the director general of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Arab and African Affairs Bureau.
“Topping the list of neighboring Arab countries to which Iran exported during the period is Iraq with close to $6.3 billion. It was followed by the UAE with $3.7 billion, Oman with $323 million, Qatar with $134 million, Kuwait with $125 million and Bahrain with $6 million,” Farzad Piltan was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official noted that Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain were Iran’s first, second, seventh, 10th, 12th and 14th biggest export destinations from among its 15 neighbors respectively.
Piltan added that no direct exports were made to Saudi Arabia over the 10-month period.
Iran’s overall foreign trade, excluding crude oil exports, stood at 122.8 million tons worth $58.7 billion in the 10-month period to Jan. 19.