TEHRAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's non-oil exports to Qatar have risen in volume and value in the past five months year on year, despite obstacles in the trade transactions with Qatar, Financial Tribune daily reported on Sunday.
The exports, which worth 67.5 million U.S. dollars, represent a 30.8 percent rise in volume and a 60.57 percent growth in terms of value, said the report.
The exports included 737,500 tons of non-oil goods, mostly food products, according to the daily trade data by Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.
The figures show significant growth as Iran has been striving to expand ties with the Qataris following Qatar's rifts with Saudi Arabia and allies in June.
Despite Iran's business growth with the Arab state, the rush and convergence of several neighboring countries wanting to sell to the Qataris plus cumbersome domestic rules have raised concern among traders that Iran has failed to rise to the occasion.
The report said that Turkey is also holding trilateral talks with Iran and Qatar to ease transit of goods to Qatar via Iran.
Pakistan is in too, having launched a direct shipping line to Qatar, alongside Azerbaijan, which is also trying to build closer trade with the Persian Gulf Arab country.
Besides, lack of a timely and efficient roadmap for boosting export and transportation links, banking limitations, and the low quality of domestic products are among the impediments to increasing Iran's exports to its Arab neighbor.
Following Qatar's political crisis, a large number of Iranian traders started to ship food there. However, Iranian goods did not have the necessary traction in that market as they were not made for being exported.
The Trade Promotion Organization of Iran is set to hold talks with organizations involved in the trade process to finalize an incentive package for exporters to Qatar.
Lack of efficient shipping services between the two neighbors is another sticking point. Valfajr Shipping Line, a company affiliated to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, has said it will launch a direct shipping route between Bushehr Port in the south and Doha.
Moreover, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran has suggested that negotiations are underway to link Iran and Qatar bank cards.
Iran's Exclusive Food Exhibition will also be held in Doha on Sept. 10-13.
On Saturday, Qatar's ambassador to Iran, Ali Bin Hamad al-Sulaiti, officially resumed his diplomatic mission in the Islamic republic after a 20-month hiatus.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it had decided to return its ambassador to Iran and expressed its aspiration to strengthen bilateral ties with Iran in all fields.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi welcomed Doha's decision, saying that "the decision is a logical and positive move by Qatar."
Qatar has withdrawn its ambassador from Iran in January 2016, after Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran, accusing the latter of failing to protect its embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad against demonstrators who had ransacked them.
