TEHRAN – Minister of Commerce Masud Mir-Kazemi said Saturday Iran’s exports in the first three months of the current year (Iranian year started March 21), have increased by 66 percent. The 66% growth in the exports during the first three months of the current year is a blessing, he said.

“Last years’ figures and statistics indicate that the mean annual growth in the exports during the time span each year has usually been something between 16 percent and 18 percent as compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.”

He referred to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the top importer of Iranian products and goods and said that Iraq, India, China and Japan respectively accounted for $1.37 million, $764 million, $547 million of Iran’s exports, the Persian service of Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Along with the increase in the exports during the period, imports into the nation have also grown, he revealed.

He put the exports to Iran from the UAE, Germany, France, Italy, China and South Korea during the same time at $7.7 billion, $2.8 billion, $2.6 billion, $2.3 billion, $2.2 billion, $2.1 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.