Iran’s exports to ASEAN up 90%

Iran exported more than 855 million dollars worth of goods to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states n the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (began March 21, 2011), up 90 percent compared to the same period last year, an official at the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran said. The TPO Director General of Asia & Oceania Foreign Trade Office, Amir Talebi, added that in the first three months of last year, Iran’s exports to the ASEAN member countries stood at 449 million dollars, IRNA news agency reported. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam constitute the ASEAN members. Talebi also stated that Iran exported 1.060 million tons of goods to the region in the first three months of the current year from 590,000 tons in the same period last year. Petrochemical products, fruits, carpets, pistachios, foods, and medicinal plants were the main exported Iranian goods to the ASEAN countries, the official said. ASEAN spans over an area of 4.46 million square kilometers with a population of approximately 580 million people, 8.7% of the world population