TEHRAN- High participation of Iranian exhibitors in Germany’s Anuga 2019 exhibition was an opportunity for increasing the exports of Iranian foodstuffs, Bahman Hosseinzadeh, the managing director of Iran International Exhibitions Company, stated.

Anuga, the world’s largest trade fair for food and beverages, is being held at Germany’s Cologne from October 5 to 9.

Evaluating the presence of 26 Iranian companies in the biennial international exhibition as very positive, Hosseinzadeh said, “We had a very fruitful presence in the 100th edition of the event”, according to a report published on the website of Iran International Exhibitions Company.

Iranian companies participating in the exhibit were some strong exporters of pistachio, saffron and dried fruits, and were highly welcomed by the German companies, the official further underscored.

He also announced that his company is planning for the presence of 100 Iranian exhibitors in the next edition of the event.

During a press conference on Monday, Hosseinzadeh had referred to the significance of boosting the country’s exports of products and reiterated that holding exhibitions is a major approach in this due.

Iran’s Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) has envisaged an export growth of 21.7 percent and holding exhibitions both inside and outside the country plays some significant role to this end, he noted.

Underlining the importance of benefitting from the 400-million population markets of the neighboring countries for expansion of exports, Hosseinzadeh said to materialize the objective of more non-oil export to the regional countries his company has defined an especial plan for holding different exhibitions.

“As most of our neighbors are some major importers of commodities we should benefit from this opportunity to boost our exports”, he added.

“We have also negotiations underway with other countries, for example, Eurasian countries and they are willing for cooperation”, the official said.

MA/MA