Iran to Send First Latin American Trade Attaché to Sao Paulo

Sunday, 20 August 2023 7:21 PM 

Iran is to send a commerce attaché to Sao Paolo as it seeks to expand trade ties with Latin America.

Iran is sending a trade attaché to the Brazilian economic hub of Sao Paolo as the country seeks to expand its trade ties with Latin American countries.

Caretaker head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Mehdi Zeighami said on Sunday that Iran hopes it can lower its trade deficit with Brazil by sending a commerce attaché to the country.

“Our absence from the Brazilian market has helped rivals to expand their activities in this market,” said Zeighami while speaking at the third edition of a major conference in Tehran on trade opportunities between Iran and Brazil.

He said the TPO seeks to remove trade hurdles caused by the geographical distance between Iran and Latin America by offering support to exporters.

Iran is a major importer of animal feed from Brazil while its exports to the South American country mostly consist of petrochemicals, including fertilizers.

An Iranian trade center has already been set up in Brazil to help diversify Iranian exports to the country.

Zeighami said Iran has various plans to boost trade with Brazil, including the launch of a direct shipping line and dispatching delegations to participate in economic and trade exhibitions in Brazil.

Iran has increasingly relied on non-oil export revenues since it came under American sanctions in 2018. The policy also aims to help diversify the Iranian economy away from crude oil revenues and to create more jobs in the country.

Customs office figures show non-oil exports from Iran reached over $53 billion in the calendar year to late March 2023 despite all restrictions imposed by the US on the country’s access to global trade and banking services.