TEHRAN – Iran plans to export $4 billion worth of goods and $2 billion worth of technical-engineering services and energy in the current Iranian calendar year (to end March 20, 2010) to Iraq, Tehran province commerce department’s director general said here on Monday.

The Mehr News Agency quoted Seyyed Ali Mousavi as saying that Iraq annually imports $40 billion worth of goods from countries such as Turkey, the U.S., Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
Iran plays an important role in Iraq’s reconstruction. Iran’s non-oil exports to Iraq were valued at $1.8 billion in 2007 and $2.3 billion in 2008.
Each month, more than 40,000 Iranians visit Shiite holy sites such as Najaf and Karbala, buying religious souvenirs and supporting the economy through tourism.
Iraq imports the following goods from Iran: cars, construction material, medicine, fruit and spices, fish, air conditioners, office furniture, carpets and apparel.
Basra alone imports $45 million worth of goods from Iran each year, including carpets, construction materials, fish and spices. Each day, 100 to 150 commercial trucks transport goods from Iran to Iraq through the nearby Shalamcheh border crossing