Iran ups non-oil exports to ECO and ASEAN

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 30 / Trend A.Yusifzade /

Iran's non-oil exports to the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation (ECO) increased by 32 percent this year compared to last year, Iran Trade Promotion Organization's Department head Amir Talebi said on Tuesday, the Econews agency reported. The Iranian new year begins in March.

The country's exports of non-oil products to the ECO countries amounted $2.103 billion in the seven months of this year compared to $1.595 billion in the same period of last year. The volume of exports of non-oil sector rose by 28 percent - from 2.713 million tons to 3.470 million tons, Talebi said.

Iran's non-oil exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) increased by 75 percent," Talebi said.

The country's exports of non-oil products to the ASEAN countries amounted $872 million in the seven months of this year compared to $499 million in the same period of last year. The exports to the ASEAN grew by 14 percent - from 972,000 tons to 1.11 million tons this year.

The ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states. Its current members are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The ASEAN was established in 1967 in Bangkok by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia gradually joined the group.

The goals of ASEAN are to expand trade, accelerate economic growth and cultural development, promote regional peace and provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities.