The global importance
The export of services has already gained great international significance in recent years and thus the volume of its commerce-orientated exchange, indicating a 3.6% growth rate, presently amounts to 1/4 of the world's total volume of trade. Promotion of the export of services provides the interested countries, possessing all the required infrastructure, with ample opportunities to compensate for possible reduction of their exported goods and stabilises their currency revenues basically through exportation of technical/engineering (TE) services.

According to latest research, conducted by the GATT's secretariat, over 60% of foreign currency revenues of countries such as Egypt, Dominican Republic and Gambia was generated by the export of services while other nations namely, Japan, China, Turkey, Thailand, Morocco, Tunisia, Singapore, Mexico and Korea have also displayed a resounding success in this regard.

It is worth noticing, at this juncture, that the exportation of services is not merely limited to TE cooperations. Other varieties such as tourism, consultative, transportation, communication, advertising and banking services have already assumed their specific and decisive positions. Nowadays, in addition to necessary workforce and availability of inexpensive raw materials, the export of engineering services certainly requires particular specialisations, state-of-the-art technology, meeting all the international standards and above all elimination of the unnecessary and entangling regulations.

Iran's endeavour to organise the export of TE service
The country's Second Five-Year Socio-economic Programme properly focuses upon the necessity for the export of engineering services. In compliance with the attainment of this essential goal and under "the provision of Section 27" of the relevant legislation, a joint meeting of several ministries' delegates was held in 1994 and thus a pertinent draft for the formation of "the Coordinating Council of The Export of Engineering Services," was promptly approved, under direct supervision of the former Iranian president Mr. Rafsanjani.

Eversince its inception this council has been making unceasing efforts to gain its principal objectives. More importantly, as a unique organ of the finance ministry the council is currently in charge of coordinating, policy-making and overcoming the existing administrative obstacles relating to the exportation of services. The mentioned council, through establishing numerous specialised committees, also intends to take the following necessary measures:

• Determining the eligibility of the applicant companies and finding out their proper ranks as an exporter of services.
• Resolving the problems of issuing the permit for necessary machinery and equipment.
• Determining the amount of refundable currency of each contract.
• Making applicable policies and regulations pertaining to possible "breach of a contract" or its inclusive terms and conditions.
• Determining the amounts of "currency charges" related to marketing activities by the given companies.
• providing necessary insurance coverage for all the activities abroad.
• Granting customs-orientated aids to exporters of TE services.
• Gathering and disseminating information regarding laws and regulations which can inturn assist exporters of engineering services, in maintaining successful presence at "international tenders."