Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 3
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The European Union has the capacity to become one of the main trade partners of Iran in the post-sanctions period, believes James Dorsey, a senior fellow at Singaporean Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
The EU firms have expressed interest to return to Iranian market following the removal of the sanctions as Iran's nuclear deal with world powers came into force Jan. 16.
"The EU alongside China, rather than Russia, are likely to be major players in the Iranian market," Dorsey told Trend Feb. 3 responding to a question about possibility for the EU to gradually replace China and Russia in Iran's market in short term after international sanctions on the Islamic Republic are removed.
During the sanctions period, China became Iran's first trade partner. The value of trade exchange between Tehran and Beijing stood at $52 billion in 2014. However, the figure dropped in 2015 due to low oil prices.
Iran's exports to Europe registered a 38-percent increase in terms of value year-on-year and stood at $1.36 billion during the first nine months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21- Dec. 21, 2015).
Meanwhile, the European countries exported over $4 billion worth of goods to Iran during the period, 29 percent less compared to the same period of preceding year.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh