Iraq Becomes 1st Export Target among Iran Neighbors

Director General of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization's Office of Arabian and African Countries said Iraq ranks first among neighboring export target destinations for Iranian products. According to Farzad Piltan, the total value of Iran's exports to Iraq in the first nine months of this Iranian year (March 21-December 20, 2020) was 20 million tons worth US$5.9 billion, which shows a 7% increase in weight compared to the same period last year.

In the said time span, the Iraqi market was the second largest export destination of Iranian products (with 23.6% of non-oil exports) and the first among neighboring countries, he added. Iron bars, tomatoes, watermelons, tomato paste, steam turbine parts, cheese, biscuits, chocolate and sweets, plastics, pistachios, urea, edible eggs, plastic household appliances, fresh apples, ice cream, bread, melons, polymer sheets, floor coverings, cement, cream, and milk are the most important non-oil exports from Iran to Iraq, Piltan said.

The Iranian official explained that in the past recent year, the coronavirus pandemic, the closure of the two countries' border terminals and trade markets for about three months, as well as closure of trade events such as trade fairs and conferences, export restrictions on steel, tightest restrictions on Iraqi imports in the field of agricultural products, reducing dairy exports and etc. have been the main barriers on the way of exports to Iraq.

Piltan said Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has various plans to improve its share in the Iraqi market including holding two special exhibitions in Baghdad and Erbil as well as an exhibition pavilion in Sulaimaniyah, a virtual exhibition in March 2021.

As he added, the Iranian organization is in favor of taking advantage of the opportunity to hold a joint economic commission with Iraqis in Tehran, strengthening its activities in Baghdad, besides fortifying export infrastructure in border provincials with Iraq. - Mehr