IRU member the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has recently opened a new TIR office in Bandar Abbas.
Iran has issued more TIR carnets than any other country over the past two years.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, ICCIMA President Gholam Hossein Shafei said that Hormuzgan Province and the port city of Bandar Abbas are the tip of the arrow for the development of the country’s foreign trade.
He said that around 70% of the country’s trade passes through Hormuzgan province.
Noting that Hormuzgan carries the burden of the national economy, Shafei regretted that the province’s share of the country’s budget is insignificant.
In a video address recorded for the inauguration ceremony of the new TIR office, IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto said, “We should not stop here. There is always room for improvement. Iran’s transit potential has yet to be fully unleashed. We all need to work together to reach the target of 15 million tonnes of transit through the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).”
Umberto de Pretto also highlighted the importance of Bandar Abbas for member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization and the benefits of TIR as the only global and intermodal transit system to facilitate and secure trade corridors crossing Iran, particularly the INSTC corridor.
In an exclusive interview with ICCIMA newsroom in Tehran on October 17, 2022, Mr. de Pretto said that transit in Iran increased by 68% in 2021 despite the coronavirus disease while the rest of the world were putting in place restrictions.