On the impact of the corona on the country's exports, Mohammed Lahouti stated, "In the last two weeks, the export growth was negative by 35% compared to the previous two weeks, while exports declined by 20% compared to the same period last year."
"Many countries, such as Turkmenistan, have closed their borders, and Iraq has announced that it will close its border for a week, and it will affect the volume of exports because of the large volume of exports to Iraq," The head of the Iranian Export Confederation added.
He said, "To support exports, the Cabinet has considered some approvals such as postponing installment payment of banking facilities, abolishing tax dispute settlement committees and postponing them to after April, 2020, extending tax exemptions to April and also customs have taken some conditions into account to provide temporary entry, of course these measures are still on paper not in practice."
Stating that the exporters 'loss protection package and the package that offset the exporters' loss have not yet been notified, Lahouti restated, "Meanwhile, the banking branches are also claiming no instructions have been issued on extending payments for facilities, and the approvals are still ineffective."
The head of the Iranian Export Confederation continued, "Most of the issues that have been raised and discussed are suggestions, and when they will be implemented is unclear. We hope if exporters are to be supported, it will be implemented sooner so that exporters can act more calmly."
Stating that the conditions imposed by the Corona virus on the economy of the country are unwanted, he said, "We suggested that the border conditions be notified to exporters online so that exporters can decide according to the conditions and not to export goods or to be sure if their goods are exported, they will cross the border, which helps reduce the loss."
Lahouti noted, "More active communication with embassies of different countries, boosting the activity of the economic deputy of Foreign Affairs Ministry and business advisers can help the country's exports very much at this point, on the other hand it should be tried to reassure countries that exporting goods will not create problems with their health."
The head of the Iranian Export Confederation said that the exporters should understand the conditions and avoid the massive congestion of goods behind the border and added, "The congestion will cause more disturbance and stress for the authorities, and decision making will be more difficult."
He emphasized, "The support package as the compensation for exporters in the current conditions is relaxing measure for them and alleviates the problems imposed on the community of exporters due to the bad conditions."