Tehran Times� � The value of non-oil exports from Iran�s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan jumped 86 percent during the first quarter of current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21) from that of the same quarter in the past year, head of the province�s Industry, Mining and Trade Department announced.

Nader Mirshekar said that 377,067 tons of non-oil commodities worth $258 million were exported from the province during the three-month period, Mehr news agency reported.

The official also noted that the border markets accounted for the lion�s share of the exports saying that easy access to the markets of neighboring countries, facilitation of exports process and also administrative bureaucracy have been the main reasons for considerable exports growth in this province.

Major products exported from the province in the mentioned time span were construction materials (cement), gas, watermelon, tomato, dates, sanitary wares, mainly exported to the neighboring countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates.

As previously announced by the head of Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), Iran has exported $11.5 billion of non-oil commodities during the first quarter.

Mohammadreza Modoudi said that the non-oil exports during spring (the first quarter) of this year has not changed compared to the spring of previous year.

The official put the value of non-oil imports at $10.2 billion during the first quarter of this year, falling 8.7 percent from that of the same period of time in the previous year.

As announced by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), the value of Iran�s non-oil exports stood at $44.3 billion in the previous year while $42.6 billion worth of commodities were shipped into the country.

Iran shares border with fifteen countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Iran plans to launch 15 mega export projects to identify more target markets, according to TPO head.

Mohammadreza Modoudi said with the implementation of these projects, which mainly focus on the markets of neighboring countries, identifying professional trade and promoting export of non-oil commodities will be put on agenda.

On June 24, Sadeq Najafi, the senior advisor to Iran�s industry, mining and trade minister, said the ministry has planned that the annual export of commodities and services to Iran�s 15 neighbor countries will reach $32 billion in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 19, 2020).

In mid-April, Iranian industry, mining and trade minister said the country plans to double its exports to the neighboring countries by the Iranian calendar year of 1400 (which starts in March 2021).