Iran Holds 25% of Iraqi Market

Chairman of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran Hamid Zadboum said the value of Iranian exports to neighboring Iraq amounts to one-fourth of the Arab country’s total imports.

“Twenty-five percent of the import market in Iraq are held by Iran, as the value of Iranian goods makes up $10 billion of the total of $40 billion in Iraqi imports [per annum],” he was quoted as saying by ILNA.

Highlighting efforts to increase Iran’s share in the Iraqi market, Zadboum said Trade Promotion Organization of Iran has for the first time dispatched a commercial attaché to the Iraqi city of Basra.

“Iran has the potential to experience a big rise in exports to Iraq,” he added, citing the difficult trade conditions caused by US sanctions.

The official expressed optimism that Iran would boost exports to Iraq, stressing that the Islamic Republic is expected to gain a larger share of Iraq’s import market by next year.

The Iranian capital recently hosted a meeting attended by the businesspeople of Iran, Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Held at Tehran’s Parsian Evin Hotel, the two-day meeting opened on Dec. 2.

According to Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Hamid Hosseini, 80% of Iranian companies use the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to enter Iraq’s market.

“Currently, 800 trucks carry Iranian goods and products into Iraqi Kurdistan on a daily basis,” he told IRIB News.