Page 28 - IRANRptAug22

Iran plans to introduce barter trading with African nations
Iranian minister says $1bn export goal for Armenia ‘achievable’
Iran’s exports to EEU states grow 12% in last Persian year, imports leap 90%
Iran is planning to set up barter trading with trade partners in Africa.
“Given the implementation of the [Iranian] Trade Facilitation Organisation's barter trade mechanism with several countries, we hope to benefit from this platform with African trade partners as well,” Ahmad-Reza Alai Tabatabaei, deputy head of Iran's Trade Promotion Organisation (TPO), with responsibility for export market development said.
TPO has prepared a list of 1,100 items that could be included in barter trading with African countries, Tabatabaei added.
Export infrastructure available for trade with Africa has been improved, while the presence of Iranian trade attaches in Africa has been strengthened, he also said.
Ghana is currently top-ranked for Iranian exports to Africa. Second is South Africa and third is Nigeria, Alai Tabatabaei said, without presenting figures. The biggest difficulty when it came to Iranian business people dealing with Africa was a lack of knowledge of the various countries with trade potential and unfamiliarity with their markets, observed the official. Insufficient maritime transport infrastructure was also a problem, he added.
“The establishment of regular shipping lines, which we have recently observed in East Africa and which need to be strengthened, should also be carried out and regulated in West Africa. By allocating transport subsidies, we are trying to regulate these lines. So that traders can capitalise on the opportunities,” Alai Tabatabai said.
Referring to Iran's great potential in the field of technical and engineering services, he said: "African countries are among the most important importers of technical and engineering services in the world, and fortunately, Iran has become more advanced in this field in recent years."
An Iranian export goal of $1bn for Armenia is “achievable”, IRNA reported Iran’s Minister of Industry Mines and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin as saying in response to data showing the country’s exports to its small neighbour grew 20% y/y in last Persian year (ended March 20) to around $500mn.
Armenia is also important to Iran in that it is a strategic ally of Russia, with which Iran is also attempting to drive up trade—with new market share opportunities opening up given the withdrawal of so many Western traders and investors in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—and borders Georgia, from where goods can be exported to Europe.
Fatemi Amin, after completing a visit to Armenian capital Yerevan, said that a contract has been signed for the production of Iranian home appliance brands in Armenia for sales in that country and beyond.
In early April, Hamed Forouzan, director-general for international affairs of the Iranian Ministry of Labour and Cooperatives, announced that Iran is to open a business relations centre in Armenia.
Iranian exports to member states of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) expanded by 12% y/y in the last Persian calendar year (ended March 20) to more than $1.17bn, Mehr News Agency has reported.
Imports were up 90% y/y to $4.47bn, according to the cited data from the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA).
The Russian Federation at $583.66mn was the top destination for Iranian products in the EEU, after which came Armenia at $302.34mn, Kazakhstan at $188.87mn, Kyrgyzstan at $78.9mn and Belarus at $16.81mn.
In terms of imports, the top five were ranked thus: Russian Federation at $4.05bn, Kazakhstan at $379.27mn, Belarus at $28.61mn, Armenia at
28 IRAN Country Report August 2022 www.intellinews.com