The head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) says the number of foreign tourists visiting the country surged 51% in the first six months of the current fiscal year (started on March 21) in comparison with similar period last year.

According to Ali Asghar Mounesan, the surge comes despite the decline in the number of inbound tourists in first six months of the past year.

Data released by ICHHTO, shows that 2,619,310 foreign tourists entered the country in the first half of last year, down from 2,701,859 the year before.

However, last year’s collective number of tourists shows a slight growth. A total of 5,113,524 foreign tourists traveled to Iran in the last Iranian year, showing a 4.33% increase year on year.

Implicating the depreciation of the rial’s value to dollar, the official noted that Iran has become a considerably cheap destination for foreign visitors.

Therefore, the growth in tourism is expected to rise through the current year, Mounesan added. / MNA /

Iranian drama ‘3 Faces’ directed by Jafar Panahi has won the Best Film award at the 55th Antalya Film Festival in Turkey.

Starring Behnaz Jafari and Panahi as themselves, ‘3 Faces’ won the Best Film award at the 55th edition of Antalya Film Festival in Turkey. Panahi’s daughter received the award on his behalf at the award ceremony hosted by Antalya’s municipality on Friday night.

‘3 Faces’ won the best film award in competition with nine other international titles and two Turkish ones.

Panahi’s film, co-written with Nader Saeivar, had won the award for Best Screenplay at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

The 55th Antalya Film Festival was opened on Sep. 29 with the screening of ‘Everybody Knows’ directed by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi.

The festival wrapped up on Oct. 5, with a screening program from 84 applications from a total of 26 countries including Turkey, Russia, China, Iran, Lebanon, Ukraine, Germany, the UK, Ireland, etc.

Given Turkey’s status as the host to over four million refugees, Antalya festival had chosen ‘human’ as the main theme of this year’s screening program. / MNA/

Outgoing Iranian ambassador Dr Abbas Vaezi Dehnavi   called on President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Sunday.

President’s press secretary Joynal Abedin briefed after the meeting “The President said Bangladesh has an excellent bilateral relation with Iran.”

Referring to cordial support of Iranian government on Rohingya issue, President Hamid expressed his gratitude to the people and government of Iran.

The head of the state Hamid said Bangladesh and Iran extended mutual support and cooperation to each other in different regional and international forums.

The outgoing Iranian envoy lauded the overall development and progress, especially, in ensuring the women empowerment in Bangladesh.

The envoy also praised the time-befitting role of Bangladesh in giving shelter to the forcibly displaced Rohingya people.

He also thanked the President for his cooperation during his assignment here.

Latest trade figures show that China, Iraq, the UAE, Afghanistan and India were respectively Iran’s top export destinations in the first six months of the current Iranian year (March 21- Sep 22).

According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, China was the main buyer of Iranian goods in the period, as the Asian country imported over 13.7 million tons of Iranian products worth $4.633 billion.

The trade figures constitute 24.19% and 20.04% of Iran’s total exports in terms of weight value, respectively, in the six-month period.

Iraq was the second largest costumer of Iranian products, as the Islamic Republic exported some 9.618 million tons of goods worth $4.546 billion to the neighboring country in the six-month period. Iraq had a 16.98% and 19.74% share in Iran’s exports in terms of volume and value.

Other top destinations included the United Arab Emirates with 8.98 million tons of goods worth $4.63 billion, Afghanistan with 3.23 million tons worth around $1.67 billion, and India with close to 4.81 million tons of goods worth over $1.25 billion./MNA/

Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to Iran Avazbek Abdurazakov said on Sunday that trade ties between Tehran and Bishkek have grown by 12% this year.
Iran-Kyrgyzstan trade ties grow by 12%
Speaking to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the ambassador said that the value of trade between the two countries stood at $60 million.

‘Some 68 percent of the trade exchanges between the two countries are Iran’s exports to Kyrgyzstan,’ Abdurazakov said.

Noting that the most important challenge in the way of trade between Iran and Kyrgyzstan is the lack of direct flights between the two countries, the Kyrgyz envoy said that this slows trade relations between Tehran and Bishkek and should be resolved.

He called for Iran’s investment in all economic areas of Kyrgyzstan, including agriculture, industry, and culture.

Abdurazakov said that his country is seeking ways to promote ways for cooperation and more enhanced relations with Iran.

Non-oil exports from the western ports of southern Hormozgan province in the first half of the current fiscal (started on March 21) stood at 517,123 tons, registering a 27% growth in terms of weight comparing with the corresponding period of last year, a senior official said on Monday.

Ghasem Askarinasab, the director of Bandar Lengeh Ports and Maritime Directorate, added that the exports mostly include fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, minerals and building materials.

The official noted that the province’s imports have observed a considerable decline in the period.

“Some 37,000 tons of non-oil goods have entered the country through the western ports of Hormozgan, which indicate a sharp fall of 60% year on year,” he added.

The official referred to the massive capacity of Hormozgan corridors and said, “close to 4.24 million tons of goods have been loaded and unloaded in the western ports of the province during the six-month period.”

“Of the total amount, oil and non-oil transit share respectively stood at 3.93 million tons and 1.808 million tons,” the official added.

According to him, transit of goods via Bandar Lengeh has observed a 11% growth in terms of volume during the period.

“Some 2,137 TEU containers have been transported through Bandar Lengeh ports, indicating a 19% year-on-year jump.”

Over 146,000 tons of agricultural and livestock products have been exported via Bandar Lengeh, registering a growth of 18% compared with the similar period of last year.

Askarinasab had previously said that the launch of ‘Shiyu Port’ in Parsian city and the minerals terminal in Bandar Lengeh port city, inviting merchants and investors and arranging face-to-face meetings with them, activating new shipping lines, providing port facilities and reducing the time of unloading and loading, are among the measures that have been taken to promote the performance and operation of the ports in southern Hormozgan province.

Bandar Lengeh is located 240 kilometers west of Bandar Abbas and is the main port city of western Hormozgan province. / MNA/

An official in charge of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) Farzad Piltan said that trade volume to be exchanged between Iran and South Africa will hit $1 billion by 2022.

The Director General of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran for Arab and African Affairs Farzad Piltan pointed to design development plan for increasing trade volume exchange between Iran and South Africa to $1 billion by 2022 and said, “effective steps should be taken in line with removing obstacles facing ahead especially in the field of banking problem.”

Speaking in Iran-South Africa Business Forum, held at Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, pointed to the investment opportunities between the two countries and said, “Islamic Republic of Iran attaches great importance to South Africa and intends to enhance its cooperation with this African country.”

He placed special emphasis on the necessity of expanding and developing bilateral trade and business relationship and reiterated, “investment and trade opportunities with South Africa has been planned at TPOI in order to take advantage of all capacities and potentials of the two countries appropriately.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Piltan pointed to the obstacles facing ahead for the development of trade exchanges between the two countries and said, “we request the South African side to take effective steps for the removal of existing problems.”

It is hoped that cooperatives sector, which is one of the most important sectors of economy in the country, will pave suitable ground for accelerating trade and business cooperation between the two countries, he maintained.

In conclusion, Director General of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran for Arab and African Affairs Farzad Piltan put total Iran’s export volume to South Africa in the past Iranian calendar year in 1396 (ended March 20, 2018) at $42.7 billion. /MNA/