Ms. Petit yesterday met the head of Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce Mr. Masoud Khansari and during the meeting both sides exchanged views on boosting trade between both states.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

Petit said that her country has agreed to join the INSTEX, adding that according to the new approved law by Belgium government, the country has joined the mechanism as one of the main members and Belgium Parliament has also approved the bill and according to the bill, Belgium can join the INSTEX as a shareholder.

Petit, accompanied by two commercial attaches of Belgium Embassy, went on to say that although the INSTEX has not fully become operational, Belgium by joining the trade mechanism with Iran is ready to strive to boost its economic cooperation with Iran, and as the result, Belgium Embassy has done its efforts to encourage those Belgium companies which are not engaged in deal with the U.S. to have permanent presence in Iran’s market for expanding cooperation with their Iranian counterparts.

She added that launching the INSTEX is a measure which will be considered in the future as sign of Europe’s independence from the U.S.

Khansari , for his part, said that expectations for the launch of the INSTEX have been beyond what everybody witnesses  now, adding that European countries especially signatories of the JCPOA have only chanted slogan and Iran has not seen any action for implementation of the INSTEX.

He admitted that after the U.S. reimposing sanctions, the trade volume between Iran and Belgium has declined. He went on to say that despite the decline, the tie has not been totally severed and there are huge grounds for expanding co-operations in different sectors like pharmaceuticals, construction and food industry.

Caretaker of international department of Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce Mr. Hassamuddin Hallaj pointed to the recent visit of the head of INSTEX and his meeting with the private sector of Iran, adding that Michael Bock admitted that private companies of Iran and Europe have increased pressure for operationalizing the INSTEX, noting that European companies have announced readiness for cooperation with their Iranian counterparts.

He reiterated that for operationalizing the INSTEX, a European bank should enter the scene for creating balance in bilateral financial interactions.