Iran’s Admin Sets Target to Double Non-Oil Exports Income

A Tuesday meeting of the Iranian administration’s Economic Coordination Headquarters discussed the modification of trade and currency policies and ways to boost the non-oil exports.

According to a plan formulated by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, a target was set to increase the annual income from the export of non-oil commodities from $35 billion to $70 billion.

The initiative spells out how the income could rise with a reform of the export regulations and structures, the high-tech and knowledge-based products’ bigger share in the exports, and stronger support for border markets.

In the meeting, President Ebrahim Raisi called on the Industry Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry to look for short-, mid- and long-term plans in order to settle the problems affecting the livelihood of people.

The president also urged the cabinet ministries to coordinate strategies and publicize their “evolutionary plans” prepared in cooperation with the experts and economic activists.

In an address in February 2020, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed the need to stop the Iranian economy’s dependence on oil incomes, saying, “I saw in reports that they (in the West) recommend preventing Iran from achieving a non-oil economy. Among themselves, it is said that they should not let Iran experience a non-oil economy. (They recommend that they should) develop a secret means - if they don’t want to remove the sanctions - to find a way to prevent Iran from becoming completely independent (of oil exports); because, if Iran becomes independent, it will develop a non-oil economy.”