Iran-Kyrgyzstan chamber urges faster services exports to avoid market loss
By Sadeq Dehqan
Staff writer
Kazem Shirdel, head of the Iran-Kyrgyzstan Joint Chamber of Commerce, said in remarks to Iran Daily that the Islamic Republic needs to swiftly activate its technical and engineering services in Kyrgyzstan to avoid losing market share to rivals such as China and Turkey.
Shirdel said Kyrgyzstan’s construction and industrial sectors are expanding and require technical and engineering services, creating an opportunity for Iranian companies. Providing such services would also secure the supply of raw materials, specialists and after-sales services from Iran and help establish the production of Iranian goods in Kyrgyzstan, he said.
However, he warned that delays in exporting engineering services could see the Kyrgyz market ceded to China, Turkey and other competitors, noting that Chinese machinery suppliers typically source their raw materials from China as well. “Activating technical and engineering services is therefore a vital opportunity,” Shirdel said.
He added that Iran has the potential to export construction materials, food products, detergents and medical goods to Kyrgyzstan. One of the main priorities, he said, is the export of technical and engineering services, a process that has already begun, with expectations that Iranian engineering associations will become active in the country and deliver tangible results.
Shirdel said expanding trade cooperation with Kyrgyzstan would open significant opportunities for exporting Iranian goods to other members of the Eurasian Economic Union and Central Asia under preferential tariffs. With both countries members of the Eurasian Economic Union, Iran can benefit from zero and 5% tariffs on agreed goods, he said.
A full free trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, in force since May 15, 2025, allows most goods traded between Iran and EAEU members to enter with zero tariffs.
Despite its small population, Kyrgyzstan has a favorable economic position and is a member of the World Trade Organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, Shirdel said. The status allows Iranian goods to be exported onward from Kyrgyzstan to neighboring countries such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with goods cleared in Kyrgyzstan at zero tariff before re-export.
Direct Iranian exports to Tajikistan face a 25% tariff, he said, while exports routed through Kyrgyzstan avoid this levy, facilitating access to Eurasian markets under preferential tariffs and free trade arrangements.
Before the implementation of free tariffs, trade volumes with Kyrgyzstan were limited because the country represented a relatively small market for Iran, Shirdel said. However, a recent visit by an Iranian trade delegation to Kyrgyzstan is expected to yield positive results that will become apparent next year.
The trade and economic delegation, which visited Kyrgyzstan three weeks ago, included around 48 participants from Iran, among them the governor of Khorasan Razavi Province. Twelve members were government officials and the remainder from the private sector. Shirdel said the visit led to steps to facilitate bilateral trade and was followed by positive developments in commercial exchanges.
He said such visits to Central Asia should continue and called for other border provinces, including East and West Azarbaijan, to take part in trade cooperation with Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease Iran’s commercial presence in those countries.
Shirdel described zero tariffs as both an opportunity and a threat. While zero tariffs could drive a surge in exports, he said the measure would depend on Iranian companies modernizing their machinery and production processes to remain competitive.
He added that sanctions and banking constraints have created challenges for Iran’s trade. Foreign exchange commitments of 15–16% increase final costs, while banking sanctions add an extra 1–1.5% to money transfer costs. By contrast, competitors such as Russia and Kazakhstan do not face such constraints, underscoring the need for solutions to ease such pressures, he said.
Iran’s competitive advantages
Shirdel said Iran’s competitive advantages — including cheap energy, affordable labor, low transport costs and short distances — help reduce the final cost of Iranian goods and can smooth entry into regional markets. However, failure to modernize machinery raises production costs and could turn Iran into an importer even under zero-tariff regimes, as the government cannot restrict imports due to binding Eurasian commitments.
Iran’s exports to Kyrgyzstan totaled about 28,000 tons worth $47 million in the first six months of the current year, which began on March 21, marking a 7.5% rise in value from the same period a year earlier, he said. Khorasan Razavi accounted for around 75% of export volume and 81% of export value in that period.
Total Iranian exports to Kyrgyzstan last year amounted to about 409,000 tons valued at roughly $243 million, Shirdel said.