"The volume of Iran's trade with Mulsim countries was USD 5.2 billion in 1997, and this figure has reached USD 30 billion in 2009, which shows a twelvefold growth," Afqahi said on Saturday at the second International Conference on Rebuilding Iraq.
Afqahi said the total volume of Iran's non-oil exports stands at USD 80 billion, adding that "based on this [figure] the volume of Iran's non-oil trade with Muslim countries should increase beyond the current 35 percent," IRNA reported.
The deputy commerce minister described lack of access to each party's information as the main problem of Iran's trade transactions with Muslim countries.
"Identifying the capabilities and capacities of regional countries helps the expansion of their trade transactions."
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Iran is the third country in the Middle East and Central Asia in terms of export and import.
In its latest report themed 'Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia,' the IMF said that Iran's exports of goods and services in 2010 would amount to USD 95 billion.
This figure marks a USD 7.9 billion increase compared to the same period last year. It forecasts that in 2011 the volume of Iran's goods and services exports will increase to USD 98 billion.
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