BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 26. Iran is interested in increasing non-oil trade turnover with Qatar to $1 billion a year, Iran's Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade and Chairman of the Trade Development Organization Mohammad-Ali Dehghan Dehnavi said during a video meeting with the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Qatar Saleh Majid Al-Khulaifi, Trend reports.
According to him, economic relations between Tehran and Doha have so far failed to rise to the proper level as a result of the two countries' efforts. Iran's exports to Qatar consist mainly of fruits and food products. However, we cannot expect to reach an annual trade volume of $1 billion between the two countries by exporting these products.
“It is time to take practical steps to develop trade between Iran and Qatar. This calls for addressing the trade-related issues. Currently, small problems have created major obstacles in the trade process.
“By simplifying the visa process for Iranian businessmen and facilitating inspections in Qatar, the volume of trade can be increased,” he said.
The Iranian deputy minister stated that the obstacles in promoting trade with Qatar are known, and by adjusting the work program, it is hoped that trade will increase.
Qatar's Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Saleh Majid Al-Khulaifi also stated in the video meeting that the strict rules of Qatari customs apply to products imported from all countries. Efforts will be made to speed up the process of releasing Iranian products from Qatari ports and issuing visas to Iranian businessmen. It is hoped that the trade turnover between the two countries will approach the said figure in the near future.
To note, according to the statistics of the Iranian Customs Administration, the non-oil trade turnover between Iran and Qatar during the seven months of the current Iranian year (from March 20 through October 21, 2024) amounted to 315,000 tons worth $174 million. Iran exported 281,000 tons of non-oil products worth $76.8 million to Qatar and imported 33,600 tons of products worth $97.3 million from Qatar.
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