According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, the share of foreign trade in world GDP has risen from 5% in 1950 to more than 20% in recent years, which shows that a country with high export potential has higher economic power than It has other countries as well, so it can be said that the amount of exports is one of the main criteria for measuring the economic power of each country.

According to the evidence, while the annual import volume of 15 neighboring countries of Iran is 1160 billion dollars, but Iran in the first 8 months of this year (excluding crude oil) exported about 13.3 billion dollars to 20 neighboring countries, compared to the same period last year. , Has decreased by about 14%; In other words, Iran's share of the market of neighboring countries is less than 2%.

Many economists believe that one of the underlying factors is the poor performance of trade and economic advisers in the region; Because the existence of information on target markets and identifying how to enter them and facilitate bilateral agreements is one of the most important factors in the development of foreign trade in countries and the trade advisor has a duty to develop trade relations, bilateral relations and interaction with chambers of commerce.

The importance of the role of business advisers in facilitating trade can be seen in the attention of different countries to this area; For example, the number of advisers in countries such as Sweden is 235, China 221, Germany 213, India 198, France 156 and the United States 150; Iran currently has only two trade advisers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sending 5 new advisors by the end of the year

Seyed Mojtaba Mousaviyan, Deputy Minister of Export Markets Development of the Trade Development Organization of Iran, said: "Currently, we have two trade advisers in Afghanistan (Kabul) and Iraq (Baghdad) and the passports of 5 other advisers to be sent to Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan." Armenia and China are preparing and these people are ready to be sent, and we are trying to send these people to their mission places before the year.

He added: "The only problem is the corona virus and the need to vaccinate these people and their families, and on the other hand, some countries have strict quarantines that may be quarantined in the destination country for some time; There must also be adequate funding for these people.

Sending 3 more advisers by August next year

Mousavian continued: "We also have a plan to send an advisor to three countries, Turkey, India and Pakistan. The Turkish advisor has been selected and we are waiting for the confirmation of this person's security qualifications;" For Pakistan and India, we have also considered candidates for the certification process, which will take place by August 4 next year, and we hope that after these stages, business advisers will be sent to Turkey, India and Pakistan in the first half of next year. As a result, the number of Iranian business consultants will reach 10.

Deputy Minister of Export Markets Development of the Trade Development Organization of Iran added: "Some countries are of great importance to us and are among our main trading partners; In fact, our trade priority is 15 neighboring countries plus China and India.

Planning to send advisers to Syria, Lebanon and Kazakhstan

He continued: "Of these 15 countries that do not have trade relations with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain; We have plans for Russia and Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, Oman and Pakistan. In Qatar, we have an affiliate consultant who also does the work of a business consultant. In countries like the UAE, we do not need an advisor at the moment because businessmen are familiar with the US system and it is not one of our top priorities right now. Kuwait We have not yet decided that we need a consultant in this country.

The Deputy Minister of Export Markets Development of the Trade Development Organization of Iran added: "In future plans, we will send advisors for Syria-Lebanon and for Kazakhstan."

Mousavian said: "The Trade Development Organization has sent 69 business advisers during the last 25 years, and at best, even in one year, 25 of our agents were present at their mission, but now this number has decreased, but the reduction of agents is only for business advisors." The number of other affiliates in other fields has also decreased, but due to the need of the country's business community and today's needs, and in order to further develop and facilitate trade, we will send this number of advisors to the obligatory countries.

He reminded: "Despite the problems we had, our advisers were always based in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the place of Iran's trade advisor in these two countries has never been vacant."

3 Major Problems Sending a Business Advisor / Rising exchange rates disrupted the sending of advisers

Regarding the problems of sending business advisers, the Deputy Minister of Export Markets Development of the Trade Development Organization of Iran stated: There are three problems for sending advisors; One is that we do not have strict conditions for sending a business advisor because a field for this field is not taught in the country's universities, while the business advisor must be fluent in language, law, management, diplomatic etiquette, international relations, negotiation techniques, etc. Be familiar with the country's production and trade system, which is rare in the country.

He added: "In the calls that we make, 2 out of 300 people have the conditions we are considering; Therefore, the Trade Development Organization does not seek to send a "person", but we must select and send the most specialized person, because it must work in difficult conditions and have full knowledge of economics and trade. Therefore, this person must have more than 15 years of work experience, a temporary mission, participation in various events and various commissions and business negotiations, which is rare among people outside the Trade Development Organization.

Mousavian continued: The next issue is the spread of the Crohn's virus; Because after the outbreak of the disease, all transportation, flights, and so on were disrupted, and in a way, the issue of dispatches was disrupted, and those who were sometimes supposed to leave had to be quarantined.

The Deputy Minister of Export Markets Development of the Trade Development Organization of Iran said: The next issue is the increase of the exchange rate; Our budget is in Rials, so in order to send a consultant, we have to provide foreign currency in Rials at a half rate and give it to the officer so that he can be deployed. Previously, with the budget we had, it was enough for 15 people, but after the increase in the exchange rate, this budget could be used for a smaller number.

He stressed: "Therefore, skills, the prevalence of the corona and the increase in the exchange rate to provide salaries and wages for the deployment of an officer are the three major problems in sending business advisers."