Mojtaba Khosrowtaj, deputy commerce minister and head of Iran Trade Promotion Organization, is of the opinion that circumstances surrounding Iran’s economic relations with the Arab world are quite special.
In an interview with the student news agency, ISNA, the official said Iran has focused its regional technical and engineering cooperation on Syria, with which the country has signed a total of a billion dollars worth of contracts in recent years.
He said Iran has already taken a considerable share of the Syrian market in the fields of electrical, automotive and silo industries.
The bilateral private sector interactions have also improved considerably in recent years.
Iran’s car industry is planning to manufacture the national car Samand and the budget car Pride in Syria, where officials have reportedly been impressed by the high quality of the former.
Iran’s Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) also announced recently it was planning to implement a major cement project in Syria.
The organization put the production capacity of the cement project at one million tons per annum. IDRO will invest $197 million in the Homam project in Syria.

Experts are increasingly concerned about the prospect of the United Arab Emirates turning soon into the top exporter of goods to Iran.

Love-Hate Relations
The love-hate relationship with the Arab world, some experts say, has ended up against Iranian companies’ interests.
Iran has always opened its doors to imports from Arab states, which is why it has failed to come to a sort of trade balance with them, they say, adding that Tehran has tried to establish good ties with Arab countries in all key political, cultural and economic areas, but has never been reciprocated with similar gestures.
Experts are increasingly concerned about the prospect of the United Arab Emirates turning soon into the top exporter of goods to Iran.
Khosrowtaj says Iranian companies have not focused much on technical and engineering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in recent years as they have been trying mostly to export agricultural and commercial goods to that country.
He believes that Iranian firms could grab the opportunity to join lucrative projects in the wealthy country.
Some Iranian firms specializing in power plant projects will reportedly contribute to the implementation of power industry development projects in Saudi Arabia.
This contribution would reportedly include private sector investments as well.
Saudi companies and its private sector have welcomed Iran’s achievements in the power plant sector and preliminary agreements have been reached with four companies for energy cooperation.
Iranian power industry is targeting other regional markets, including Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE.
On the controversial issue of trade ties with the UAE, the official said the tiny Persian Gulf state plays a crucial role in the re-export of Iran-made goods to the four corners of the globe.
“We are expecting to have Iran-made goods worth $1.1 billion re-exported via UAE in the year to March 2006,“ he said.
But many other officials, including Iran’s Customs Administration chief has criticized the UAE for violating international customs regulations, stressing that the world has lost trust in Dubai Customs.
Massoud Karbasian said many countries, including the United States, have set up their own customs offices in Dubai to be able to exercise greater control over goods bound for their territories.

Iran's car industry is planning to manufacture the national car Samand in Syria.

“Iran is currently paying the price for the non-commitment of other Persian Gulf states to international trading norms,“ he said.
Iranian customs authorities do not have confidence in the performance of Dubai Customs and therefore the administration has installed X-ray systems on entry points to check goods coming from Dubai.
UAE does not impose customs duties on contraband bound for Iran. The emirates allow dilapidated vessels to ship smuggled goods to Iranian territory in violation of international regulations.

Iraqi Cooperation
Iraqi Ambassador to Iran Mohammad Majid Al-Shikh believes that Iran has exported more than a billion dollars worth of goods to his country in recent years, stressing that Baghdad is seeking greater economic relations with Tehran.
The envoy said earlier this year the new Iraq is trying to mend ties with its neighbors as part of its efforts to improve living standards and welfare of the war-plagued nation.
The post-Saddam Iraq must work to improve its trade ties (with all countries), he said, adding that Iran could play a substantial role in advancing the country’s reconstruction drive.
He said the Saddam Hussein regime had paralyzed the Iraqi economy.
As the Iraqi ambassador talks of greater interaction, Khosrowtaj blames insecurity in Iraq for low-profile bilateral trade.
“Iranian businessmen prefer to do trade with the Iraqis via border markets in view of the massive media propaganda portraying Iraq as an unsafe country,“ he said, adding that Iran-Iraq trade is influenced by media reports on the ongoing insecurity in the war-torn country.
In the year to March 2005, he said, the volume of border trade with Iraq showed a remarkable increase to reach $700 million.
He expressed satisfaction with the growing interest among Iraqi businessmen in the First Iran-Made Goods Exhibition in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr, stressing that the Iraqi side is willing to work with Iranian companies given the geographical proximity between the two countries.
Khosrowtaj is of the opinion that Iran could dominate agriculture and industrial markets in Iraq.

Some Iranian firms specializing in power plant projects will reportedly contribute to the implementation of power industry development projects in Saudi Arabia.

Arab Ties
The official said talks on preferential trade agreements have been held with a number of Arab countries, including Lebanon, Syria and Oman, stressing that none has yet produced concrete results.
He said Iran needs to embark on signing major trade agreements with Arab countries as the first step towards greater economic interaction with the Arab world.
“The Commerce Ministry believes that the establishment of joint chambers of commerce would greatly help with efforts to boost economic ties with the Arab countries,“ he said, adding that the ministry favors establishment of these chambers with the regional states.
Khosrowtaj says Iran’s imports mostly include advanced machinery and capital goods while Arab countries are not capable of making such products.
“We import 50 percent of our requirements from Europe and look at Arab and Islamic countries as export destinations,“ he said, adding that Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines has to determine priorities as far as the establishment of chambers of commerce with regional states is concerned.
The official said the regional markets are required to be given the top priority.
He further noted that Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines should change its traditional outlook and embark on establishing chambers of commerce with regional countries, especially Muslim states.