A senior Iranian official underlined Tehran's intention to further reduce its dependence on oil revenues, and said the country is exporting its non-oil products to over 149 world states now.

Director-General of the Arab-African Trade Department at Iran's Trade Development Organization Hossein Hosseini said on Wednesday that presently Iranian non-oil products are exported to more than 149 countries.

He put the non-oil export incomes in the first six months of this year at $20 billion, and noted that export of non-oil goods should reach $75 billion by end of this year.

Iran has signed free trade deals with 12 Arab and African states in order to upgrade its foreign trade and commercial activities, he said, adding that after the measure, incomes from non-oil exports would show remarkable increase in the second six months of the year.

Iranian officials have underlined that the country plans to increase its non-oil exports to over $70bln in the current Iranian year.

Late in December, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lauded the country's growing non-oil exports, and said Iran's non-oil exports would equal its imports in the current Iranian year.

"God willing, non-oil exports will equal (Iran's) imports by the end of 1391 (march 19, 2013)," he said, adding, "That would be a great revolution in the country's economy."
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News ID 183157