Iran president says political diplomacy has to serve economic diplomacy

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi on Saturday referred to the significance of trade and exports in the country’s new five-year development plan and said that political diplomacy has to serve economic diplomacy.

President Raeisi made the remarks addressing a ceremony to mark the 26th edition of National Exports Day.

The president appreciated all those active in the Iranian exports sector who made great achievements in spite of tough sanctions on the country.

He said that a 40% growth in the Iranian exports last year and a 13% growth of non-oil exports in the current year is indicative of the will of the country’s exporters and economic activists.  

Referring to naming the current Iranian year by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as the year of “Production: knowledge-Based and Job-Creating”, the president said that we should combine efforts to help the progress of production, particularly knowledge-based and technology-based production.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi awards an Iranian exporter as one of the top exporters of the year at a ceremony to mark the 26th edition of the National Exports Day in Tehran, Iran on October 22, 2022. 

President Raeisi also called for more efforts to increase Iran’s share of economic interactions in the region, in different areas such as transit.

He said that Iran has made more than 5% growth in the second half of the past calendar year, noting that a target 8% economic growth for this calendar year is also within the reach.

In the end of the ceremony, 57 Iranian exporters were awarded as top exporters of the year.

The companies were selected from among 612 companies in 69 commodity groups.

Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) is the sponsor of the annual event.

ICCIMA President Gholam Hossein Shafei also addressed the ceremony where he urged the need for forming a national council on foreign trade.

Some 44 Iranian organizations are involved in trade either directly or indirectly, Shafei said, adding that countries with major growth in foreign trade have a unified center for policy making which reduces the costs of trade.