Azerbaijan, Baku, Mar.5/ Trend F.Milad
Iran exported 38 billion dollars' worth of non-oil goods (excluding gas condensates) in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year, Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran, Kioumars Fathollah Kermanshahi said on Tuesday.
The figure will reach 41-42 billion dollars by the end of the current calendar year (March 20), the IRIB News Agency quoted Kemanshahi as saying.
Petrochemicals accounted for 8.495 billion dollars of the previously mentioned amount.
Iraq with 5.96 billion dollars, China with 4.82 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates with 3.91 billion dollars, Afghanistan with 2.5 billion dollars, and India with 2.6 billion dollars were the main destination markets for Iranian goods in the 11 month period.
According to Kermanshahi, Iran imported 48.3 billion dollars' worth of goods in the same period.
Iranian Chamber of Commerce official Asadollah Asgaroladi said last month that the country's non-oil exports, including gas condensates, will surpass $50 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).
Non-oil imports are valued at $60-65 billion he said, adding that non-oil exports should approach the level of imports.
The Iranian minister of Industry, Mine and Trade said on February 24 that Iran's revenue from non-oil exports can account for 80 per cent of its imports, so the country doesn't need to rely on oil exports for importing necessary goods.
Currently some 70 per cent of exporters' foreign exchange revenues are being used for imports, the IRNA News Agency quoted Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying.
This is while in the previous year, the figure stood at around 40-45 per cent.