Baku, Azerbaijan, July 28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Italy was the top European importer of Iranian goods in spring 2014.
The European country imported 19 million tons of Iranian goods, worth $8 billion, in spring 2014, which corresponds to the first quarter of the current Iranian year, ISNA reported on July 28.
Iran exported totally 594,000 tons of goods, worth $390 million, to Europe in spring 2014.
Iran exported $200.69 million worth of non-oil goods to Italy and imported $849.33 million worth of non-oil goods from the European country in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014, according to the Iran Customs Administration.
According to the Italian-Iranian chamber of commerce, annual trade between the two countries has grown notably since 2002, reaching its peak of $9.7 billion dollars in 2011.
However, after the European Union's decision of widening commercial sanctions against Iran, the bilateral trade in the first eleven months of 2012 was halved to $4.8 billion. Italy remains Iran's top European trade partner.
At a meeting with the visiting Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino last December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Italy should maintain its role as a gateway for Iran to interact with Europe.
Edited by CN