Given the role of exports in economic growth and regional development, this study was conducted to identify and prioritize the barriers to food industry exports in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Export barriers were identified in six main areas: infrastructural, political, economic, market, legal, and human resource and management factors, and were evaluated based on expert opinions. The prioritization of barriers was carried out using Grey Relational Analysis according to the criteria of severity of impact, probability of occurrence, cost implications, time delay, and controllability. Data processing was also performed using the Python programming language.
The results showed that infrastructural barriers are the most important factor limiting food industry exports in the province. Political and economic barriers ranked next. At the level of specific barriers, weaknesses in the cold chain and export logistics, shortage of skilled labor in processing and packaging, inappropriate packaging, weak advertising and branding, and instability in exchange rate and trade policies were identified as the main obstacles. The findings indicate that the main challenge of food industry exports in the province is not limited to production alone, but is also related to weaknesses in post-production stages, including storage, packaging, transportation, marketing, and policymaking.
Accordingly, it is recommended that policymakers and provincial institutions move from a production-oriented approach toward a chain-oriented approach by prioritizing the development of cold chain infrastructure, upgrading export terminals, improving refrigerated transportation, enhancing packaging technology, training specialized human resources, strengthening advertising and branding, and reducing policy uncertainty in provincial export planning.