Iran non-oil exports see 39% growth

Iran’s non-oil exports have increased by 39 percent since the start of the current Persian Calendar Year (March 21, 2011) compared to the same period last year, a trade official says.

“Over the past six months, Iran exported USD 20 billion worth of non-oil commodities,” IRNA quoted Fathollah Kermanshahi, an official with the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization, as saying on Sunday.

Kermanshahi put the value of Iran’s imports in the same period at USD 29 billion, pointing to a 20 percent fall compared to the same period last year.

He also noted that the previous Persian Calendar year (March 21, 2010) witnessed the export of 107 million tons of products including pistachio, dates, almonds and caviar.

In a televised address last week, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his administration is planning to increase the country’s non-oil exports to 60 billion dollars by March 2013.