Tehran, Canberra can double bilateral trade: Chamber deputy
Iran and Australia can double at least their bilateral trade within a year, said the vice president of the Iran-Australia Joint Chamber of Commerce, adding that there are high capacities of cooperation between the two countries
in the field of economy and trade.
Alireza Shamsfard told Iran Daily that the distance between Iran and Australia has caused some difficulties in the relations between the two countries in trade areas, but the main problem that has affected the commercial relations is the sanctions and especially the difficulties in financial exchanges.
He put the official trade between the two countries at around $30 million per annum, noting that the actual figure is much higher and reaches at least $150 million.
“A large part of Iran’s trade
exchanges with Australia is carried out through third countries, which usually cannot be tracked by official statistics; for example, the United Arab Emirates is the largest re-exporter between Iran and Australia, through which most of the exchanges between Iran and Australia are carried out,” Shamsfard explained.
Due to the sanctions that have been imposed on Iran, a very large part of the exchanges between the two countries, which was in the mineral sector, has decreased significantly, and our exchanges in this sector have decreased in terms of technology, machinery and minerals.
The bilateral trade potential had exceeded $300 million in recent years, as we imported cars from
Australia, or food exchanges constituted a good amount of trade between the two countries, he stated, criticizing that due to the sanctions, we are facing problems in exchanging many goods, even exchange of products such as food, which are not directly subject to sanctions, as our money and bank transfers are facing restrictions due to sanctions.
The Iran-Australia Joint Chamber of Commerce is tasked with facilitating the commercial affairs of the two sides, the trader noted, adding that in this field, it provided favorable help, guidance and advice to businesspersons and companies interested in doing business in Australia and Iran.
“Australia is one of the leading countries in the world in the field of food products and industries including dairy products, textiles and mineral industries, and we
can use their technology in these sectors in addition to imports of final products.”
Australi is among top countries in many fields, such as industrial machinery and road construction, and for example, in the field of mining machinery production, it is one of the top three countries, along with the US and Poland, Shamsifard added.
Regarding the presence of Iranian firms in Australian exhibitions, he said, “We always send invitations to participate in these exhibitions to the members along with taking measures in the field of managing affairs, obtaining visas and other related tasks, but due to the difficulty of the process, we often do not get a good reception.”
Shamsifard went on to say that we almost have Iranian exhibitors at the Fine Food Australia exhibition which is annually held in September, and we do the required works for the participation of Iranian traders in the expo, which include coordinating with travel agencies and obtaining visas.