According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea will likely see its exports grow more than US$80 billion over the next decade through an expanded economic cooperation with Iran, a local think tank showed Wednesday.

According to a report by the Korea Economic Research Institute, South Korea is forecast to see its exports grow by $84.5 billion from 2016 to 2025 if Seoul and Tehran expand their bilateral economic cooperation.

South Korea is pushing to strengthen its economic ties with Iran following the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran earlier this year.

The construction, automobile, petrochemical and infrastructure sectors were cited among the areas that could benefit South Korea the most, the report showed. In particular, exports in the construction sector were projected to increase $18.5 billion over the next decade.

The report also projected that about 680,000 jobs will be created through better ties with Tehran. It cited the construction and automobile sectors as the areas that will create 288,000 and 154,000 jobs, respectively, over the same cited period.

The report is based on an analysis of economic and industry data related to Iran from 1980 to 2015, the think tank explained. South Korea's average annual exports to Iran stood at $4.75 billion during the 2009-2015 period.

kokobj@yna.co.kr

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