According to the latest statistics released by Iran’s Customs Administration (ICA), the non-oil exports reached $46.30 billion in the first 11 months of the current year (to end March 20), indicating a 22% increase compared with the similar period last year, head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), Valliollah Afkhamirad said on Sunday. “Considering the $48.25 billion worth of imports during this period, Iran’s overall foreign trade during the first 11 months of the year reached $94.55 billion. Adding the value of services exported to other countries during this period, the figure would reach $110 billion,” he was quoted by ILNA as saying, as part of his speech at the Resistance Economy Summit in Tehran. “Non-oil exports are given special priority in the resistance economy policy, which calls for sustainable and multilateral development with people’s participation,” said Afkhamirad. The main goods exported by Iran during this period included: liquefied propane, methanol, butane, polyethylene, pistachio and cement; while the major destinations for Iran’s exports were China, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Afghanistan and India, the ICA report suggested. Iran’s major imports in the past eleven months included wheat, vehicles with internal combustion engines, corn, rice and soybean, which were imported mainly from China, UAE, South Korea, Turkey and India. > Exports Crippled by Lack of Banking Difficulties The official referred to the difficulties in banking transactions with other countries (as a result of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran by the West over its nuclear energy program) as a major obstacle in Iran’s export activities; which he said has led to an increase in the prices of finished products in the domestic markets, crippling the country’s ability to compete in the global market. To overcome the banking problems, he suggested three solutions, including the use of barter trading, using the national currency in business with neighboring countries, and giving more freedom to bureau de change to carry out the monetary transactions. Establishing consular offices in the border provinces to facilitate visa issuance for Iranian traders was another suggestion Afkhamirad made to the ministry of foreign affairs. He also underlined the need for establishing a unified customs management system with neighboring countries and called for developing the infrastructure at border points to facilitate exports.