Tehran has been trying to attract more business in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region – particularly since the second round of US sanctions were imposed on Iran in early November, sending its economy into a tailspin.
The Iranian consul in Sulaimani and a trade advisor for the Iranian president met with the province’s traders and investors last month.
“They said the volume of trade exchanges between the Kurdistan Region and Iran should increase,” one participant told Rudaw. “Increasing trade exchanges with Turkey has concerned them.”
Iran doesn’t want to lose a key trading partner – especially as its economy takes a fresh battering.
“There are more traders who import goods from Turkey than Iran,” according to Sheikh Mustafa Abdulrahman, the head of the Kurdistan Region’s union of importation and exportation.
“Nearly 5,000 people import goods from Turkey to the Kurdistan Region, and nearly 3,000 people import goods from Iran to the Kurdistan Region,” he added.
A delegation of importers from the province of Sulaimani and Halabja was in Iran two weeks ago. The Iranians shared their concerns over falling demand for Iranian goods.
“I explained to them that the quality of their food and other goods was lower than Turkey’s, and that the reason was not only the sanctions,” Abdulrahman said.
At Sulaimani’s recent trade expo, Iranian traders said 2018 was their worst year.
“The cash we have made from selling our goods is not even enough to cover the cost of transporting our goods,” one Iranian company representative said.
According to figures from the union of importers and exporters, out of the 3,850 foreign companies working in the Kurdistan Region, just 250 are Iranian while 1,800 are Turkish. Roughly 10 percent of companies investing in the Kurdistan Region are Iranian.
“The question is not only about a decline in Iranian companies, we have noticed Turkish goods in the province of Sulaimani and Halabja have been increasing. In response to this, some Iranian companies have decided to export high quality goods to Kurdistan and lower their prices so they do not lose the market,” Abdulrahman said.
Further trade talks are scheduled for December 12 to try and stem the loss of business.
