RASHT, Gilan Prov. – Some 251,380 tons of goods, valued at $139.83 million, was exported from this northern province of Iran, up 22 percent in terms of value compared to the same period last year.

Gilan exported minerals, agricultural products, handicraft, foodstuffs, chemicals, petrochemicals, and carpets, mostly to Central Asia. Also in the same period, Gilan Customs reported import of over 1.87 million tons of goods for $864 million, which showed 16 percent increase in weight compared to the same period last year.

The imported volume mainly consisted of ironware, woodwork, and electrical equipments.

Agricultural Jihad Ministry admits unofficial import of Chinese tomato pastes

TEHRAN – The Agricultural Jihad Ministry has admitted that several cargos of Chinese-made tomato pastes were unofficially imported through eastern borders earlier this year.

“Tomato pastes were smuggled in bulks in Khorasan Razavi,” a ministry official told IRNA on Tuesday. This has caused a sharp reduction in sales of locally farmed tomatoes, Allaii-Moqadam added, quoting experts as reporting that some factories in the province have mixed cheap Chinese tomato pastes with their own products in order to increase their sale volume.

Khorasan Razavi accounts for 10% of the country’s tomato paste production (4.56 million tons).

Tehran-Bangkok economic ties discussed in Majlis

TEHRAN – The Thai Ambassador to Tehran Suwit Saicheua met here Tuesday with an MP at the Iranian parliament to discuss the possibility of expanding bilateral trade exchanges.

Pointing to the long history of relationships between the two countries, Saicheua called for broader participation of Iranian companies and businesses in the Thai trade fairs. He also said that Thailand’s government wanted the immediate implementation of oil import projects from Iran.

For his part, head of the Iran-Thailand Parliamentary Friendship Group Iraj Nadimi noted that exchange of investments could dramatically move up the level of trade ties between the two sides.

Sistan-Baluchestan exports 240,000 tons of goods in 1st half

ZAHEDAN, Sistan-Baluchestan Prov. – Some 240,000 tons of goods worth $58.36 million was exported from this southeastern province in the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-September 22, 2006).

This showed 39 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Tar, dried fruits, petrochemicals, and foodstuffs were the main exported commodities in the six-month period during which Sistan-Baluchestan imported 503,390 tons of goods, mostly home appliances, rice, tea, and oilseeds, at $370 million, up 80 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

The total income of the provincial customs offices in the said period came to 400.65 billion rials (nearly $43.7 million).

UNESCAP to sponsor workshop in Tehran

TEHRAN - The executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Kim Hak-Su has announced that his office will contribute to holding of a workshop here on natural disasters by early December.

The Korean pointed to his Monday meeting with Iran’s UNESCAP representative Pak-Ayeen, stating, “The workshop will be a prelude to the establishment of a UNESCAP-sponsored Natural Disasters Center in Iran."

Earlier this year, UNSIAP, or the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and Pacific, which is part of the Bangkok-based UNESCAP, and the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI), held together the 12th regional workshop on system of national accounts in Tehran.