Iran become a wheat exporter this year.

Egypt has held talks with Iran over the possibility of importing Iranian wheat, and hopes to see a new phase in economic relations with Tehran, Egyptian trade ministry said on late Saturday.
“The coming period will see the start of a new phase of economic relations between Egypt and Iran,“ the Egyptian ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The ministry made its statement a day after Egyptian Trade Minister Rasheed Mohamed Racheed held talks with Iranian Industry and Mines Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian in Cairo.
“The talks dealt with the possibility of importing wheat from Iran, especially given that Iran has become a wheat exporting country,“ the statement added.
The ministry said Egypt, one of the world’s biggest wheat importers, had also extended an invitation to Iran’s deputy commerce minister to visit Egypt to lay the framework for such wheat deals.
Once a net wheat importer, Iran has become self-sufficient in the strategic crop in 2004 and has joined the rank of wheat exporting countries since this year.
Meanwhile, a fax to Iran Daily by Iran Khodro Public Relations Office quoted Mehrabian as saying that the production line for Peugeot Pars, a sedan made by Iranian automaker Iran Khodro, was launched in Egypt late Saturday.
He noted that about 5,000 Peugeot Pars sedans are to be manufactured per year in Cairo in the first phase.
If the demand for Peugeot Pars gains increases in the Egyptian market and conditions improve for expanding Iran’s car market, the production line for other Iranian models would also be set up in Egypt.
Turning to Iran’s position in the Middle East and Persian Gulf markets, he pointed out that Iran has a favorable condition in terms of economic and trade development.
At the meeting, the two ministers negotiated on 20 subjects in the fields of economic and industrial cooperation.
Mehrabian hoped that mutual cooperation in cement, power and textile industries would be possible and the private sectors of the two nations would also become involved.
He pointed out that he would convey the message of peace and unity of the Iranians to the Egyptians, expressing hope that a new base could be built for mutual commercial and industrial cooperation.
The two nations which have deep cultural and historical roots can cooperate in many areas, he concluded.
Leading a delegation, the Iranian minister traveled to Egypt on Friday for a three-day visit upon an invitation by his Egyptian counterpart.
Egypt and Iran have not had full diplomatic relations since 1979 but both countries have edged toward resuming normal ties in recent years.

The government has raised import duties on cellphones by 60 percent since last year to support domestic production.

Despite the start of domestic cellphone handset production and restrictions on import, imported handsets still flood the market and smuggled goods continue to pose a threat.
The government raised import duties on cellphones by 60 percent last year in an effort to support domestic production. Also plans were made to promote local production.
However after a lapse of several months from the start of cellphone handset production and the signing the various agreements, the country did not witness a rise in domestic production.
Head of Parliament Telecommunications Commission Ramezanali Sadeqzadeh told Iran Daily that by raising the duties, the government aimed to support the domestic production and prepare the ground for launching cellphone production lines to meet the demand. However it failed to achieve its goals, he added.
Turning to the rise in cellphone smuggling concurrent with the increase in tariffs, Sadeqzadeh said that about six million cellphones were imported during the period, of which 1.5 million were legal brought in while the rest were smuggled.
The lawmaker from Rasht also said given that Iranian entrepreneurs could not reach agreement with leading foreign companies for joint venture, they did not achieve a reasonable production level.
Also, head of the Association of Audio Visual Appliances and Mobile Phone Handset Sellers said that six handset production lines have been launched but their production capacity is not high.
Ebrahim Dorosti underlined that local production occupies only three percent of the domestic market.
He continued that about 20 million SIM cards are currently in operation nationwide and predicted that the figure would double in the year to March 2009.
He regretted that the current tariff rates only benefit the smugglers.
Meanwhile the 15-percent duty on imported handset was approved by the expert committee of Article One Commission, Fars news agency reported. Members of the commission presided by Commerce Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi will now study it.
The Commerce Ministry earlier in a letter sent to Presidential Office, had asked for a reduction in handset import tariffs to 10-15 percent.

Iran provides the shortest and cheapest route for construction of railway lines from Central Asian states and Russia to the Persian Gulf, observed Minister of Road and Transportation Mohammad Rahmati on Sunday.
In an interview with IRNA, he said that the plan to construct a railway line linking Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was approved by the presidents of the three countries and relevant agreement was concluded.
President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamadov of Turkmenistan inaugurated operations to construct the railway line linking Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in Berekat, a Turkmen city bordering Iran’s Golestan province on Saturday.
Rahmati noted that the present Sarakhs-Tajan-Mashhad railway line connects to the east of Russia via Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan which is relatively long. He added that since Uzbekistan has been left out of the new plan, the railway line has become much shorter.
Rahmati said that the new railway line will be constructed with better technical specifications, adding Turkmenistan is due to lay 700 kms of the railway lines in four years. He stated that Ashkhabad has invited Iranian contractors to implement the project.
“Iran-Kazakh-Turkmen railway line will help reduce the cost price of commodities and the time needed to transport them,“ he stated.
Rahmati noted that Gorgan-Tehran railway line can be connected to the new line to transport goods and raw material, adding if necessary new railway lines would be built and linked to other routes of the country, including the Gorgan-Sari-Shahroud line.
He noted that feasibility studies on establishing Gorgan-Mashhad railway line have been completed and executive operations will certainly be undertaken.
The official noted that the new railway would bring in about 50 to 60 million dollars as transit revenue for Iran per annum.
Rahmati further said that the proposal on the construction of 200-250 km of main roads in Turkmenistan was presented to the country’s officials. He added that Iranian contractors would be introduced to Turkmen side for the project.

Governor of Central Bank of Iran Tahmasb Mazaheri on Sunday appointed Reza Raei, former director of Tejarat (trade) Bank as his new deputy for foreign exchange affairs.
Raei will replace Mohammad Jafar Mojarrad who has been appointed a senior advisor to the CBI chief.
Raei, a professor of Tehran University and former deputy head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, headed Tejarat Bank for just about five months.
The replacement was expected when Mazaheri appointed Ramin Pashaeifam as the CBI deputy governor for economic affairs on October 28, the CBI Public Relations Office reported on its website.
Pashaeifam, a member of Board of Directors of Bank Melli of Iran (BMI) and former director general of the dissolved Management and Planning Organization, replaced Akbar Komeijani.
The replacement of Komeijani was the third in the CBI top brass since Mazaheri assumed office as head of the bank.
The appointment of Mazaheri, an ardent advocate of Islamic banking, as central bank governor has boosted hopes for reforms in the banking system.
His appointment as the top official to supervise the state banking system is indicative of the government’s determination to reform the economic structure and create a competitive atmosphere in the economy.

Iranian officials have expressed desire to increase trade with Pakistan to one billion dollars per annum.
Commercial AttachŽ and First Secretary Ahmad Fasihi and Head of Economic Department of Iran Embassy Mohsen Pakparvar said this in a meeting on Saturday with Chairman of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCI) Nasir Khan.
They said that enhanced trade ties between the two countries would help promote relations in other fields.
At present trade between Iran and Pakistan stands at $650 million and economic officials of both countries wish to increase this to the maximum.
Fasihi said the current level of trade between the two countries was below the potential level and appropriate measures should be taken to increase it to the optimum. He said Iran gave priority to goods imported from Pakistan, the Pakistani newspaper ’Daily Times’ wrote.
The ICCI president suggested that Pakistan and Iran should encourage border trade by establishing customs points. He appreciated the role of the commercial section of Iranian Consulate in facilitating the business community of Pakistan.
The commercial attachŽ informed that his office signed 16 memoranda of understanding with business chambers and trade delegations in a short time and also arranged meeting with 1,800 members in few months for increasing bilateral trade.
Fasihi also invited ICCI president to send a business delegation to Iran for enhancing bilateral trade because both countries have good relations.