Iran, Germany Call for Bolstering Bilateral Trade
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
Members of Presiding Board of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) and officials of German-Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK) yesterday held a joint meeting where both sides emphasized enhancing coordination with an eye on boosting bilateral trade relations.
Addressing the meeting, Managing Director of AHK <s. Dagmar Von Bohnstein reiterated that German government is main supporter of expansion of cooperation between Germany and Iran, adding that after new rounds of the U.S. sanctions, some German companies sopped their activities in Iran but German government and AHK have always announced their support for trade with Iran.
She pointed to the presence of some small and mid-sized companies in Iran, stating that the cooperation between Iran and Germany is currently in a balanced mode but the balance is not stable, urging the ICCIMA members to take steps in line with boosting this balance by their all-out supports.
Head of ICCIMA, Mr. Gholam-Hossein Shafei, for his part, called AHK as one of the most important joint chambers of commerce, adding that since the establishment of AHK till now, some good programs have been pursued for expanding bilateral trade.
He went on to say that Germany has been Iran’s oldest trade partner and will remain and there are some problems now which should be solved as soon as possible. He reiterated that both sides should not let the bilateral tie and mutual interests be harmed.
Shafei called for the necessity of expanding ties between Iran and Germany, noting that it is natural that different laws and regulations in both countries would create restrictions for economic activists, stressing that both sides should find fair solutions for them.
He also criticized German embassy over process of issuing visas for Iranian economic activists, reiterating that easing visits of economic activists is the first condition for expanding cooperation among countries, adding that unfortunately visa issuance by German Embassy is one of the headaches for economic activists while other embassies in Tehran have good co-operations and there is no problem for visa issuance.
Shafei also called for forming a joint committee by AHK and ICCIMA to identify obstacles in way of cooperation in order that they are discussed for finding solutions in the upcoming meetings.
Meanwhile Abbas Ali Qasaeizadeh, the head of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, addressing the participants said that the chamber has 300 Iranian and 200 German active members and it is one of the biggest joint chambers in the country.
He added that Iran and Germany’s industries have a strong bond and after the U.S., Germany is the pioneer in technologies.
He called the meeting positive, adding that such meetings will help both sides to resolve the hurdles for accelerating trade between both states.
Deputy Head of ICCIMA on international affairs Mr. Mohammad Rezqa Karbasi also said that one of the serious demands of business activists is that Iran’s chamber should form a joint chamber with Germany based on the domestic laws but so far this demand has been ignored.
