Vice President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi said on Sunday that the ICCIMA has prioritized the identification and removal of problems on the way of expansion of trade with neighboring Iraq.
Selahvarzi made the remarks addressing the opening ceremony of an exhibition of export capabilities of Iranian western province of Lorestan where a number of businesspeople from Iraq were also present.
Iraq is Iran’s number two trade partner following China and both the Iranian state and private sectors have made efforts over the past years to identify and remove problems impeding bilateral trade, he said.
Vice President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi is seen addressing the opening ceremony of an exhibition of export capabilities of Iranian western province of Lorestan on January 29, 2023.
He also added that Iraq used to be Iran’s first trade partner but it conceded the number one place in trade with Iran to China due to some problems on the way of interactions.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi Shirazi, the secretary of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, said that the two countries have targeted as much as $20 billion for annual trade within the next five years.
He said that the market realities indicate that the Iraqi market will not remain for Iran forever.
Noting that the Iran is not seeking to have one-way exports to Iraq, he said that “We have to move towards balancing trade with Iran anyway.”