Rome, May 18, IRNA -- Italy is designated as the first trade partner of Iran among the EU member states in the first quarter of 2017, a statistical center announced. According to the EU Statistics Center, the volume of exchanges between Iran and Italy in the same period hit 1.2 billion euro, with 800 million euros pertaining to Iran's exports to Italy and 400 million euros to its imports from the country. Italy is the first trade partner of Iran with France and Germany ranking second and third in this respect. Iran's trade with the EU has considerably increased over the past two years, especially its exchanges with Italy which has been raised by 200 percent during the same period. Over the past ten years, the two countries' positive trade balance was always in favor of Italy, but in the first quarter of 2017 it turned positive in favor of Iran. Iran is considered a golden opportunity for the European industries seeking new markets enthusiastically. Until last year, Germany was Iran's trade partner in Europe, with Italy coming second in rank.