Azerbaijan , Baku, March 30 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
The volume of transit goods passing through Iran has soared by 37 percent last Iranian year (March 21, 2010-March 20, 2011) compared to the previous year, Mehr News Agency reported quoting Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi as saying.
Iran 's geographical advantage due to its accessibility to transit corridors of north-south and west-east has provided the country with the best chance to transit goods by railroad to Central Asian, European and African countries as well as China, Rahimi added.
About 8.382 million tons of goods worth $26.27 billion have been transited via Iran in ten months of the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2011).
The figures indicate a 47 percent rise in weight and a 35 percent rise in value against the corresponding period of the previous year, IRNA reported.
Iraq with 1,800,000 tons of goods, China with 1,266,000, and Turkmenistan with 924,000 tons of commodities had the higher amounts of goods transited via Iranian territories.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Iran is the third country in the Middle East and Central Asia in terms of export and import.
In its latest report themed 'Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia,' the IMF said that Iran's exports of goods and services in 2010 would amount to $95 billion.
This figure marks a $7.9 billion increase compared to the same period last year. It forecasts that in 2011 the volume of Iran's goods and services exports will increase to $98 billion.