TEHRAN: The Iranian commercial attaché to Azerbaijan has announced that the neighboring country has turned into one of Iran’s major trade partners. Mohammad Ebrahim Naghizadeh underlined that Azerbaijan is now the twelfth largest importer of Iranian products which is an unprecedented record in Tehran-Baku trade history. “Exports of Iranian services and products to Azerbaijan have soared at a time when imports of the neighboring state have suffered a significant decline due to economic crisis and falling oil prices” he said.
He stated that Iran’s exports to Azerbaijan hit 187 million dollars in the first four month of the current Iranian year (began March 20) while the figure stood at 232 million dollars all through the earlier year. The official said there has also been a boom in the growth of Azerbaijan’s exports to Iran as the Islamic Republic of Iran imported worth of 15 million dollars of goods from Azerbaijan over the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year.
Naghizadeh described this year’s increase in the level of Azerbaijan’s exports to Iran as tremendous, saying that the volume of Azerbaijan’s exports to the Islamic Republic over the whole last year stood at 15 million dollars. “Russia and Turkey are Iran’s main rivals in Azerbaijan,” stressed the official saying “with a population of more than 9.7 million people, Azerbaijan Republic imported 10.5 billion dollars of products from various world countries.”
Iran’s commercial attaché to Azerbaijan further maintained that Iran is seeking to supply therapeutic market of the neighboring country since they pose a high demand for medicines and medical equipment; “Azerbaijan has always been among consumers of Iranian medical equipment while a golden opportunity exists now for Iranians to enjoy a greater share of the market.”
Mohammad Ebrahim Naghizadeh expressed hope that an Iranian pharmaceutical plant will be opened in Azerbaijan in near future given that several multinational firms are performing in the neighboring country.” “Due to falling oil prices and the sharp drop in its national currency, The Azerbaijani government placed economic reforms on its 2016 agenda and took several measures in four core areas of trade, transit, tourism and agriculture which all mark suitable venues for Tehran-Baku cooperation,” he concluded.
