Iran has a capacity to export 10 billion dollars of goods to Iraq and the basis was ready for 5 billion dollars of technical and engineering services exports, Hamid Hosseini said in an interview with IRNA on Thursday.
He underlined that the infrastructure and proper regulation were required for trading between Iran and Iraq in order to achieve the target.
Hosseini said that the Iran-Iraq trading saw an 18 percent decrease in weight and a 13 percent decrease in value in the last two months, while Iranian exports to other countries experienced a growth.
He linked the decrease to Iraq’s failure in paying its arrears on gas import from Iran and it would reverse course once Iraq’s debt is settled with the delivery of coronavirus vaccines instead of cash.
He also mentioned travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic as a factor that prevents companies from signing agreements and getting to know each other.
The trading official also suggested that Iran can allocate some part of its funds blocked in Iraq to the mutual investment fund to win a part of the country’s reconstruction projects.
