The figure was €6.2 billion during January-October 2015, Tasnim news agency reported.

Iran’s exports to the EU stood at €3.9 billion from January to October 2016, quadrupling from €1 billion during the same time span in 2015.

Meanwhile, EU’s exports to Iran increased by 23 percent and reached €6.4 billion from €5.2 billion over the 10-month period.

In April 2016, Iran and the EU issued a joint statement in Tehran setting the road map for cooperation. The statement was released by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini who visited Iran along with seven European commissioners.

The two sides taking stock of their long standing relations, based upon mutual respect and interests, reiterated their intention to develop a broad and comprehensive agenda for bilateral cooperation.

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“We will visit Iran towards the end of January and will try to negotiate for more Malaysian products to be brought into the country,” Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong was quoted by Star Online as saying.

The Malaysian official described Iran as an important country in the Middle East, and said clinching a bilateral FTA with Iran “would allow Malaysia to gain a first-mover advantage”.

He further described the FTA as ‘a good move’ that would provide ‘a huge opportunity’ for exporting Malaysian products, particularly rubber and palm oil, to Iran.

Iran’s president has arrived in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur for the second leg of tri-nation tour of Southeast Asia in which he aims to boost trade relations following the lifting of United Nations sanctions.

Earlier this month, Malaysia‘s Minister of International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Tehran- Kuala Lumpur trade stood at $700 million in 2015.

“In terms of bilateral trade, the volume has been small — about $700 million in 2015 — but we hope, since the sanctions have been lifted, to boost Malaysian exports (to Iran), especially palm oil,” he noted.

Iranian and Malaysian officials have already unveiled plans to double trade exchanges between the two countries.

During his visit to Malaysia in October, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced that Iran and Malaysia are determined to restore relations to pre-sanctions levels and double trade exchanges.

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International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was quoted by the media as telling an Iran-UK trade forum in London that relations between the two countries had specifically started to improve after London reopened its embassy in Tehran.

Fox also added that Britain would work to expand bilateral trade following the vote to leave the European Union.

We are seeing the first signs of growing trade between the UK and Iran

“Slowly but with increasing enthusiasm, British companies are starting to do business with Iran again … We are seeing the first signs of growing trade between the UK and Iran,” he told The Second Iranian Trade Conference – New Prospects for British-Iranian Trade and Investment.

Fox further acknowledged that banking problems which still remain as a result of primary US sanctions against Iran are still preventing the full expansion of trade ties with the Islamic Republic.

He emphasized that the British government has already put the resolving of those problems at the top of its priorities.

“The banking sector’s ongoing concerns about facilitating payments or providing financial services means that the benefits of sanctions relief are not yet being fully realized. Resolving these problems remains a priority for this government,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

Fox said the government was working with the banking sector to find a solution for Iranian payments, and that Britain was well-placed to help private Iranian banks modernize.

London expects to see gradual movements by banks into Iran over the next few months

On the same front, Justine Walker, director of financial crime with the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), which represents the industry, said London expects to see gradual movements by banks into Iran over the next few months.

Walker emphasized that a majority of British banks are eager to expand their relations with the Iranian banking sector.

She also added that the BBA will support the banks that are interested in the expansion of relations with the Islamic Republic, IRNA reported.

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The German Economy Ministry announced in a statement that several Mittelstand firms, the small-to-medium-sized companies that form the backbone of the economy, had signed the deals with their Iranian partners during a landmark visit to Tehran by Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel.

On the same front, Reuters reported that Mitsubishi Germany signed a contract to modernize a gas-fired plant, while plant constructor Keller HCW sealed an agreement to build a brickyard in Iran. Others that signed deals in Tehran included SMS group, a builder of steel making plants and INTRA industrial solutions, Reuters quoted the German Economy Ministry as announcing in its statement.

The central banks of Iran and Germany also agreed on technical co-operation, Reuters added. There was no detail on the size of the agreed deals.

Gabriel – who is heading a 160-strong business delegation to Tehran – had earlier emphasized that Germany wants to help Iran push ahead with reforms, and promised to remind the United States of its commitment to reduce sanctions against Iran.

This is Gabriel’s second visit to Iran since the country reached a deal in July last year to restrict certain aspects of its nuclear energy activities in return for the removal of some economic sanctions that had been imposed on it for several years.

Industrial giant Siemens AG and automaker Daimler AG are expected to be the first German firms to benefit from opportunities in Iran after the removal of the sanctions, Reuters said. Nevertheless, they are proceeding carefully and only after legal reviews.

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Italian Ambassador to Iran Mauro Conciatori said in a meeting with Hormuzgan Governor General Jassem Jedari in Bandar Abbas that Iranian president (Hassan Rouhani) and Italian prime minister (Matteo Renzi) met for the fourth time over the past year in New York last week during which both sides underscored the need for doubling efforts to broaden ties, wrote Fars News Agency.

Noting that Iran and Italy are quite familiar about each other and have been in contact through the Silk Road, he said this can pave the way for boosting ties between the two countries.

Conciatori pointed to the berthing of Italian warship in Bandar Abbas, and said the presence of the Italian warship is a positive development in relations between the two countries.

In mid-July, Iranian and Italian officials in a meeting in Sari, Mazandaran Province, signed four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to expand cooperation in areas such as trade and economic sectors.

The MoUs were signed in a ceremony attended by governors of Iran’s Mazandaran Province and Italy’s Marche Province.

Marche Governor Luca Ceriscioli was accompanied by a 50-member trade delegation which included 43 CEOs, manager of an Italian bank and chancellors of two Italian universities.

In mid-April, Iran and Italy signed 12 contracts to boost cooperation in trade and economic fields.

Chairman of Iran-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Mines Ahmad Pourfallah said the agreements were signed in a ceremony attended by Italian Prime Minister Renzi and Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, Mohammadreza Nematzadeh.

He said negotiations are also underway between Iranian and Italian trade delegations to discuss further cooperation in economy, trade and banking.

According to the official, the discussions include cooperation in oil, gas, electricity, power plant, steel, textile, fashion, car, infrastructure, urban planning and architecture, telecommunication, railway, airport construction, shipping, refinery, and petrochemicals.

He said the Italian economic delegation, including 70 economic firms, is the ninth delegation to visit Iran after the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions.

A day earlier, President Rouhani had reiterated the need for the timely and precise implementation of the nuclear agreement by the world powers.

“The nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, Russia, Britain, France and China plus Germany) was a success for all countries which believe that talks is the solution to the international problems and we should well protect the achievements of this agreement so that all people opt for the path of talks as a role model to settle the problems in the world,” Rouhani said, addressing a meeting between high-raking Iranian and Italian delegations, also attended by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, in Tehran.

He underscored the importance of precise and timely implementation of all undertakings accepted by the other side in the nuclear agreement with Iran.

President Rouhani also appreciated Italy for its goodwill and support during the Iran-P5+1 talks. iran daily

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According to a Tuesday report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the country’s non-oil exports in the aforementioned five months reached $19.108 billion, showing a 10.22-percent increase in comparison with the similar period the previous year.

Iran exported $17.336 billion worth of goods in the first five months of the previous year.

Meanwhile, the country imported $16.709 billion of commodities over the same period which showed a 2.85-percent decrease in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

Gas condensate, liquefied natural gas (LNG), petroleum gas and hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) were among the main products exported to different countries in the aforesaid five months.

Iran also exported $7.462 billion of petrochemicals in the same period, a figure that was higher than the corresponding period last year by 25.03 percent.

The IRICA report also noted that China has been the main importer of Iranian goods and imported $3.405 billion worth of Iran’s non-oil products in the five months, indicating a 2.69-percent boost in comparison with the same period of the previous year. The United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey and South Korea, in descending order, were the next biggest importers of Iran’s non-oil products.

Iran imported $938 million worth of goods from Germany in the five-month period, which placed the country fifth in terms of exports to the Islamic Republic. China, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Turkey ranked first to fourth, respectively.

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Figures released by the Customs Administration of Iran show that the country’s non-oil exports over the period stood at $16.3 billion – a figure that was higher than the corresponding period last year by 21.11 percent.

It is believed that a new wave of exports of petrochemical products spurred by the removal of sanctions against Iran in January has been instrumental in the improvement of Iran’s trade activities.

Iran’s exports of petrochemical products over the period had increased by 41.5 percent in the overall basket of non-oil products, IRNA reported.

The total value of petrochemicals exported stood at $6.7 billion and the total value of other non-oil products stood at above $6.6 billion, it added.

In January, a series of economic sanctions that had been imposed against Iran were removed after a deal that the country had last year reached with the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – came into effect.

The sanctions restricted banking transactions with the country among other issues.

Iran has been persistently urging European countries to take the required measures to encourage their banks to facilitate transactions with Tehran now that the sanctions have been removed.

However, the country’s plea appears to have fallen on deaf ears so far.

Analysts have already emphasized that the banks remain wary of the impacts of the remaining American sanctions against Iran, specifically those that address banking transactions with the country.

Fariborz Karimaei, the deputy head of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation of Iran, was quoted by the media in mid-August as saying that Iran’s petrochemical exports to Europe are facing problems as a result of sanctions-related banking issues that have not been fully settled.

Karimaei emphasized that the European banks are still failing to cooperate with the Iranian exporters of petrochemical products even eight months after the removal of the sanctions.

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South Korea announced on Thursday that it will start a euro-based settlement system for trade with Iran next week.

The move follows the removal of sanctions against Iran in January and is expected to help the two countries further expand economic relations.

“The euro-based settlement system for South Korea-Iran trade will start on August 29,” South Korea’s Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho told reporters after a policy meeting held in Seoul. “The opening of the system will help further promote bilateral trade and investment,” Yonhap News Agency quoted him as saying.

Iran and South Korea have been using a won-based settlement system since September 2010 to bypass trade sanctions and allow the two sides to conduct trade.

Under the current system, two local banks — Woori Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea — have their own accounts at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), and trade payments are made through the accounts.

The South Korean government has made efforts to set up a new settlement system as an alternative method that can possible expand trade and investment with the oil-rich country, Yonhap added.

The finance minister said KEB Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank will handle the euro-based payment system, which uses the euro as a medium of trade, which is widely preferred by Iranian companies.

Industry data showed that the trade volume between Korea and Iran stood at $6.1 billion in 2015, down sharply from $17.4 billion in 2011 in what appears to have been a result of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

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