Abedin Khorram in non-oil export forum in Tabriz said,” the official economic team in the province has not limited the economic development for neighboring countries and during the last year there have been 22 meetings with ambassadors and government officials from foreign countries.”
He mentioned that the chamber of commerce is the headquarter of economic activities in province and a good connecting place for domestic and foreign investors.
He said that East Azerbaijan has been the hub of industry and production and enjoys a bright history in this field and we try to be the pioneer in this field.
Khorram added,” production and export are the main pillars of the country and closure of oil wills and developing non-oil export  are the main policy of Iran which have been emphasized by the supreme leader.”
East Azerbaijan provincial governor noted that economy is a significant feature of development which will have fruitful outcomes.
 Pointing out that the economy has suffered a lot from sanctions, said that self-imposed sanctions and diplomatic pressures have also been harmful for the economy.
 He said, “The new approach in the government is balanced diplomacy.”
He explained that in new approach European countries should respect our country like Iran does the same and we should try to seek relations with countries that don’t care about sanctions like neighboring countries and of course ninety percent of countries have no problems with sanctions.
He said that, “the main economic capacity in our province is private sector and government officials are committed to support them and remove obstacles on the way of trade and production.”
Khorram added that this year our province has witnessed 30 percent growth in non- oil export that we are not satisfied with this number and our target is 700 million people living in neighboring countries.
He said that completing the chain of production and export is necessary for economic development and doing this we can turn our province as the hub of car manufacturer, shoe and bag, food industry, sweet and chocolate and carpet production.
He said unfortunately in the recent years exporting carpet has suffered a lot and we try to revive its brand.
Provincial Governor said, "East Azerbaijan province has five billion and five thousand tons of crops this year and it is predicted it will be 8 million tons of crops next year.”
Korram considered the dispersion in the field of knowledge-based companies as one of the problems of this field and said: We are trying to introduce East Azerbaijan as an export hub by creating industrial-park on the common borders with the neighboring countries.
Criticizing that the added value of the province in the field of mines is less than five percent, he said: This is not acceptable in a province that has the highest mineral reserves in the country.
Khorram also emphasized on investment on downstream for copper industry and cathode development.
The 26th non-oil export forum was held in Tabriz Petrochemical Hall, honoring 2 top national exporters, 31top provincial exporters, 9 meritorious exporters and Mr.Ali Salek Najati the godfather of Iran’s chocolate industry.