Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation

Tuesday, April 5th, 2016, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) in collaboration with the Iran-ASEAN Business Council (IABC) and the Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council (MOGSC) organised a TradeTalk@MATRADE titled Business Opportunities in Iran at Menara MATRADE today.

The speakers at the event were from the Islamic Republic of Iran Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and representatives from the Malaysian and Iranian companies based in Malaysia. They shared insights on the current business environment in Iran, trade and investment opportunities in Iran arising from the lifting of sanctions and various other business opportunities that can be explored in Iran.

The talk was part of the MATRADE’s initiatives to boost trade and economic relationship with Iran following the economic sanctions against the nation that have been lifted in January this year.

MATRADE views Iran as a very important market for Malaysian products and services in West Asia due to the country’s strategic location and its economic potential. Iran has the second largest gas reserves in the world and fourth largest oil reserves. Based on World Bank Report, Iran is the second largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) after Saudi Arabia, with an estimated GDP of USD406.3 billion in 2014 (latest data by World Bank). Iran, an upper middle income country, is also the second largest, in term of the population in MENA, after Egypt with 78.5 million people.

According to MATRADE’s Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Dzulkifli Mahmud “With most financial and economic sanctions against Iran have now been lifted, economic ties between Malaysia and Iran are expected to be stronger this year and I foresee that bilateral trade volume between our two countries to experience strong growth in the years to come.”

“We would like to encourage more co-operations and collaborations between the Iranian and Malaysian business communities so we could maximise the trade opportunities between both countries. We feel that the bilateral trade and cross border investments, between the two could be further enhanced, by organising more exchange of business visits and business and investment-related programmes like today’s TradeTalk@MATRADE,” Dato’ Dzulkifli added.

In 2015, Malaysia’s trade with Iran decreased by 11.7% to RM2.09 billion. Exports declined by 10.6% to RM1.95 billion and imports contracted by 25.6% to RM139.5 million. The decline in exports was largely attributed to lower prices of commodity, although exports in quantity had increased. Similarly, the decline in imports was due to lower import value of petroleum products – also a result of lower prices.

The main Malaysian products exported to Iran in 2015 were palm oil & palm-based products (48.6% of total exports to Iran), chemical & chemical products (11.6%), natural rubber (11.4%) and top imports were agricultural products such as dates, pistachios, grapes, figs and others (44.3% of total imports from Iran) and petroleum products (25.6%).

MATRADE encourages Malaysian companies to leverage on MATRADE’s 46 international offices to understand the global markets and start exporting. Local companies that are keen to explore the Iranian market can contact MATRADE’s Dubai office by emailing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..