Iran’s Annual Trade with Caspian Sea States Ups $2.5bln
2021-April-20
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran had $2.525 billion dollars of non-oil trade with the Caspian Sea counties in the previous Iranian year (ended March 2020), Spokesman of Iran’s Customs Administration (IRICA) Rouhollah Latifi said.
Latifi said Iran’s annual non-oil economic exchange with the Caspian Sea nations stood at $2.525 billion adding that the weight of the traded goods has been 6.242 million tons.
He said Iran exported 3.125 million tons of goods worth $1.856 billion to Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, while Azerbaijan ranked first with nearly 1,003,087 tons ($510,987,242).
Latifi added that Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan ranked second to fourth.
The spokesman added that Iran imported 3,117,266 tons of goods in the same period with the value of $1,203,847,104 from these countries, while Russia ranked first with 2,933,485 tons ($1,070,256,262).
He added that Iran’s trade balance with these countries was over $117 million.
In relevant remarks in late March, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Iran’s unique situation has turned it into the best transit route for regional countries to have access to easy trade, adding that Tehran and Moscow with their strategic positions on the North-South corridor can contribute to cultural blossoming of both countries, the Caucasus region and West Asia.
Head of Iran-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Group Seyed Amir-Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi said on March 30 that, due to its geo-strategic location on the route of North-South Corridor, Iran is the easiest and shortest way for transit of products of neighboring countries, noting that the Tehran-Moscow cooperation can pave way to materialize this objective.
Hashemi made the comment at a panel discussion sponsored by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industries titled ‘The harmonized Volga and Caspian Space for Development’ in Moscow, adding, “The Islamic Republic with its 15 neighboring countries has a unique geopolitical status with access to sea and land territories to entire region.”
He stressed that the Caspian Sea in the North and the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman in the South have high potentials for easy transit of goods.
The Iranian parliamentarian said that the North South corridor is not only the shortest transportation route to Europe at one end that is for instance 7,200 kilometer shorter from Mumbai Port, decreasing the 16,000 path in half; but also it is a safer route with lots of land sideways in Iran for neighbors.