August 28, The Iran Project - An economic expert says Iran's nuclear agreement with world's power�has enabled the country to speed up its industrialisation and technological upgrading through trading directly with world leading firms in the EU�on a more competitive basis.

The UK-based Betamatrix International Consultancy's consultant,�Mehrdad Emadi,�believes that�through reconnecting its industrial firms with the technologically advanced economies in the European Union and the East Asia, Iranian authorities have stated that they intend to focus on the import of capital goods and gradually moving away from the import of consumer goods.

He noted that recent statistics, which reveal a sharp rise in Iran�s foreign trade driven by increased imports is a result of the JCPOA (known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aka nuclear deal) which came into force in 2016.

Emadi went on to say that,�"the rise was both expected and hoped for since it confirms that the removal of the trade and the financial restrictions imposed on Iran as a result of sanctions would enable the Iranian businesses and state-owned-enterprises (SOE) to trade more directly with their counter parts outside the country, in particular with their European counter parts without the need to pay heavy handling costs to the intermediaries and agents that often charged exorbitant fees to facilitate Iran�s foreign trade."

The total trade between Iran and the 28-nation bloc (the European Union) in the first six months of the current year amounted to �9.9 billion, showing a 94 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the report,�according to data released by the European Commission.

The value of Iran-EU bilateral trade in the first half of 2016 had stood at �5.1 billion, the data showed.

The EU imports from the Islamic Republic in the first half of 2017 has also risen to �5 billion, showing a 224 percent increase compared to a year earlier, in which the figure amounted to �1.54 billion, the report said.