What is the reason for banning the import of Iranian cars to Syria?
Keyvan Kashefi continued in the Good Morning Iran program: There are two production lines of Saipa and Iran-Khodro cars in Syria and fortunately they were not damaged during the war and Saipa had good production until about six months ago but from the second half of 2021 due to government circular Syria had serious problems with banning the import of car spare parts (except for the consumer sector).
He said that Iran-Khodro Company is operating in the country as a holding company with three investors (Iran-Khodro – Ministry of Industry and Private Sector of Syria). Car parts will be a problem.
Kashefi added that the exhibition of Iran’s capabilities in Syria will be inaugurated in Damascus from December 28 to 29 in the presence of the Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade.
The head of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber, in response to a question about the relationship between sanctions and car imports to Syria, said: “Syria and Iran have been grappling with the issue of sanctions for several years, and this is not a new issue for our producers and economic actors.” We have been active in the shadow of these sanctions.
He added: “Due to sanctions and economic pressures, foreign exchange resources in Syria are very limited and the Syrian government is forced to use contractionary policies and limited imports to control and secure foreign exchange resources.”
Regarding the Turkish market share in Syria, Kashefi said: “Although Iran’s social and political relations with Syria are very strong, our economic share is much smaller and there are two main reasons for this.” The first is that Turkey has a more dynamic economy than us, and the second is that Turkey is in a better position in terms of communication due to its proximity to Syria.
He continued: “The main problem that our economic actors have with Syria is the problem of transporting goods to Syria, which is usually sent to Latakia via Bandar Abbas and takes more than two months, and this time for Turkey is less than 24 hours.”
Kashefi outlined ways to increase exchanges between Iran and Syria, saying that with the participation of the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Roads, Iran’s land route to Syria through Iraq should be reopened as soon as possible, reducing the delivery time to Syria to 48 hours.
The head of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber added: “Iran is the only country that has a zero export tariff rate with Syria, but for various reasons, this issue has not been implemented between the two countries’ customs.”
He believes that the implementation of zero export tariffs for the two countries is a springboard for exports and economic exchanges.
Regarding the outlook for Iran’s exports to Syria, the head of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber said: “In the first week of this year, we exported about $ 120 million to Syria and this figure will reach $ 220 million by the end of the year. Our outlook for the new year is between 500 and 700 Million dollars.
At the end of his speech on trade advisor in Syria and export target countries, Kashefi said: “We are considering a joint plan between the Chamber of Commerce and the Trade Development Organization of Iran to appoint economic advisers from the private sector and we hope to increase the number of economic advisers as soon as possible.” Let’s deliver the desired.
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