Mehdi Mir-Ashrafi broke the news on Mon. and stated that 83 million tons of products were loaded and unloaded at customs offices of the country in the first half of the current year (from March 21 to Sept. 22).
He put the total country’s foreign trade value in the said period at more than $36.8 billion, $17.7 billion of which related to the export share.
Deputy minister of economic affairs and finance pointed to the export of products and added that country’s exports registered a 21 percent decline from March 21 to Sept. 22, 2020 as compared to the same period of last year.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Mir-Ashrafi put the volume of products imported into the country in the first half of the current year at 18.6 million tons, showing a two percent decline as compared to the last year’s corresponding period.
He also put the value of products imported into the country in the same period at $19.1 billion.
IRICA chief pointed to the establishment of two joint border gates with neighboring Turkey and Afghanistan before the termination of the current year (to end March 20, 2021) and added, “Once this joint border gate is launched, border control will be accelerated significantly”
Development of TIR Customs Convention to Southeast and East Asia via Iran is one of the salient and positive measures taken by IRICA for facilitating border transit and development of transit, he said, adding, “Membership of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and also Central Asian states in TIR Convention provide suitable ways for facilitation of transport and export of Iranian products to East Asia as well as transit of products needed by Central Asian states and Southeast and East Asian countries.”
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