TEHRAN, IRAN, Sep.15
Trend:
The commercial relations between Iran and Kuwait have sharply declined due to sanctions and coronavirus issues, the head of Iran and Kuwait Joint Chamber of Commerce told Trend in an interview.
Hani Feysali has indicated that Kuwait has taken policies that have caused the sharp decline in trade volume with Iran, and the level of trade ties is between the two countries is about $300 million to $400 million.
"The following figure is lower than recent years, Iran does not have specific import from Kuwait, and a major part of commercial interaction relates to Iran's export to Kuwait," he explained.
He noted that major export commodities from Iran to Kuwait are construction material, nuts, and mineral products such as cement, plaster, and constructional stones.
In regard to financial transactions with Kuwait, he noted that the cost of bank transactions by forex offices is high and the exchange offices charge a large percentage of money for remittances generated from trade.
"Unfortunately like other Persian Gulf countries, it is not easy to travel to Kuwait after coronavirus spread, and Kuwait would not allow the entrance of businessmen," he said referring to difficulties of trade for Iranian businesses.
"If there is trade with Kuwait it is done by old (Iranian) businesses, it is not possible for new businesses to come to Kuwait since the country does not issue commercial or tourism visa after coronavirus. The number of current flights from Iran to Kuwait has been limited and only citizens of Kuwait have the possibility to travel," Feysali noted.
On the sidelines of the Baghdad Conference, the foreign ministers of Iran and Kuwait discussed ways to boost interaction between the two countries, including by giving fresh impetus to the Economic Cooperation Joint Commission.