Identifying and prioritizing the challenges of the export market of selected products of Iran's food industry

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Turaj Alizadeh Arehjan ¹
• Hamed Rafiee ²
• Seyed Safdar Hosseini ²

¹ Department Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Development, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.

² Department Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Development, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Keywords

• Tomato paste
• yogurt
• uncondensed cream and condensed cream
• export challenge
• specialized meeting

Main Subjects

• Agricultural Economics, Extension and Education, Development, , ....

Extended Abstract

Introduction

Food and processing industries as industries related to agricultural products are among the most important industrial groups that can play an effective role in the economic development of countries, especially developing countries. On the one hand, to provide foreign exchange and increase foreign exchange earnings, and on the other hand, to reduce the dependence of exports on the crude energy industry, the development of non-oil exports, including the development of exports of agricultural products will be necessary. However, since the review of studies alone cannot reflect the real challenges of exporters, especially in recent years, in this study, specialized meetings have been used to prioritize obstacles by method (AHP) to more accurately extract these challenges.

Methods

This study identifies the challenges of the export market of selected food industry products completed by conducting interviews and holding face-to-face and virtual meetings with exporters. Then these obstacles and challenges have been Prioritized by method (AHP). These meetings were established in 2020 and 2021 at the office of the National Center for Strategic Studies in Agriculture and Water Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture.

Finally, with the participation of exporters, solutions were provided to get out of the current situation.

Results

The most important export challenges based on the review of studies and the results of specialized meetings are: unplanned decisions by policymakers, sanctions and the challenge of transferring currency to Iran, policymakers use exports to control domestic markets, failure to complete the supply chain and the value of export products in Iran, exchange rate fluctuations, lack of efforts for branding, the need to support it and the need to avoid false competition of domestic manufacturers and exporters, failure to provide a specific program to support exports, limited export destinations and lack of diversification of export markets, lack of policy for the development of trade negotiations, logistics costs, export insecurity in countries such as Iraq and the heavy dependence of trade on politics in Iran, non-compliance of products with global taste (non-export-oriented production), inefficiency of production facility system, dissemination of information and refusal of Iranian exporters to announce real prices, reduce access to secure packaging by tightening sanctions and the need to provide accurate databases in production and trade for major export products.

Discussion

In this study, the challenges of the export market of selected Iranian products were investigated. These challenges are almost the same for other products. Some of these challenges need to be addressed with government support and some with the efforts of the private sector and exporters.