TEHRAN- The value of exports from Kish Free Trade Zone in Iran’s southern Kish Island has dropped 18 percent during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-November 20), according to a provincial official.

Mahmoud Dashti, the director for trade promotion in Kish Free Zone Organization, announced that commodities worth $96.3 million have been exported from the zone in the eight-month period.

The official also said that products valued at $93.32 million have been imported to the zone during the first eight months of this year, which was 51 percent lower than the figure of the same time span in the previous year.

The establishment of free trade zones in Iran dates back to the Iranian calendar year 1368 (March 1989- March 1990) following the fall in the country’s oil income in the preceding year which prompted the government to promote non-oil exports.

The first two free trade zones of Iran were established in the south of the country. The first one was Kish Free Trade Zone established in 1368 on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf and the second one was Qeshm Free Trade Zone established the year after on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Considering the important role that the free zones play in promoting the country’s export and employment, Iran is seriously pursuing the development of its existing free zones and the establishment of new zones as well.

More development measures in this field have been taking since the U.S. re-imposition of sanctions on the Iranian economy in November 2018, as Iran is reducing its dependence on the oil income while elevating its domestic production and non-oil exports.

Although the sanctions have disrupted Iran’s economic activities, they could not impede the development of Iranian free zones; in fact, the development of these zones has been even accelerated.

Many strides made for increasing activities in the free zones have played a significant part in boosting the country’s non-oil exports and brought prosperity in the other economic sectors.

MA/MA