According to the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Customs Administration (IRICA), the volume of the trade between Iran and OIC
member states in the mentioned five months reached 42.3 million tons, also 10
percent more compared to the previous year's same time span.
Iran exported 33.6 million tons of non-oil goods worth US$13.5
billion to OIC member countries and imported 8.7 million tons of commodities
valued at US$13.2 billion from them in the first five months of the current
Iranian year, Mohammad Rezvanifar said.
The deputy economy minister added that the country’s exports
to OIC members registered 16% and 8.0% increase in value and weight
respectively in the mentioned period, while the import of products from the
mentioned countries also increased by 18% and 15% in terms of weight and value.
Among the OIC member states, the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, and Oman were Iran’s major trade partners, the IRICA
head noted.
Back in May 2023, the former head of the Iran Chamber of
Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) stressed the need for
establishing a joint Islamic market among OIC members over the next 10 years.
Addressing a gathering of the heads of OIC member chambers
of commerce on the sidelines of the "Russia - Islamic World: Kazan Forum
2023" in Russia, Gholam-Hossein Shafeie said, “An important issue that has
been discussed a lot in the past and the organization should pay attention to
it in the current situation is the creation of a common Islamic market in the
next 10 years, which can be achieved by concluding a free trade agreement among
Islamic countries and removing tariff and non-tariff barriers.”
“Experts have worked on the Islamic market plan, and using
the experiences and studies of these experts can definitely be a way forward,”
he added.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which was formed in
1972, today has reached a position where, according to statistics, the future of
the world's energy would be in the hands of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, Shafeie said in his speech.
