TEHRAN -- The director of the Bushehr-Qatar Joint Border Market said that $7.5 million has been allocated for Iranian year 1381 (March 2002-March 2003) for import/export activities in the market.

Seyed Abdollah Razavi Dashti said, "Despite the fact that last year the Bushehr-Qatar Joint Market was twice as busy as it was expected to be, government allocations have decreased."

He said that in the previous year, 171,621 tons of commodities, valued at $20,578,204 were exported through the market.

He added that this shows a 110 percent increase in value and a 317 percent increase in weight compared to the same period last year.

Razavi Dashti also announced that in the last twelve months, commodities valued at $12,370,232 were imported into the country through this border market.