President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Samad Hassanzadeh says that formation of regional value chain widely depends on cooperation among private sectors of regional countries.
Hassanzadeh made the remarks addressing the opening ceremony of the 6th Export Potential Exhibition of the Islamic Republic of Iran – known as Iran Expo – in Tehran on Sunday.
Noting that Iran can potentially add a $1 trillion to its GDP by 2035, he said that activating such a potential requires some $3.5 trillion in investment.
He also touched upon Iran’s huge resources, stressing the country’s strategic geographical position, rich natural resources, young, educated and low-cost workforce, big consumption market, competitive energy price and environmental diversity.
Statistics of 2022 show that Iran is the world’s 8th biggest crude oil producer and 3rd biggest natural gas producer, having the 3rd biggest oil reserves and the 2nd biggest natural gas reserves in the world, the Iran Chamber of Commerce president said.
Hassanzadeh also added that Iran is the leading producer of plastic and polymer products in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and is the world’s tenth biggest producer of minerals with 6,000 active mines producing 68 different types of minerals.
In today's world, regional integration plays a key role in the development process of countries, he said, arguing that the countries alone cannot advance their economic development process and need close cooperation with other countries and markets.
He noted that the process of globalization, as the main force of economic convergence in the world, has been increasingly challenged in recent years and in such a situation, regional integration has found a greater role and importance in the process of economic development of countries.