TEHRAN (Iran News) – First Secretary and Head of the Economic and Commercial Office of Embassy of Italy in Tehran says his country can share its valuable experiences in field of cooperative sector with Iran and the two countries can cooperate together.
In an exclusive interview with the news website of Iran Chamber of Cooperative on the occasion of International Cooperative Day, Mr. David Baloni briefed the interviewer about the performance of Italy in its cooperative sector.
International Co-operative Day is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday in July since 1923 by the International Co-operative Alliance.
Baloni pointed to the role of cooperative in the economies and said cooperatives are more resistant than other types of businesses and can help the resistance and sustainability of economies of countries in the critical times, and for this reason his country emphasizes support of this sector.
He then pointed to the relations of both countries and said the trade volume between Iran and Italy has declined considerably since 2017 after re-imposition of the unilateral sanctions by the U.S., adding that despite this condition, Italian government has tried to prevent the exit of Italian companies from Iran as much as it could in order to keep the trade relation level sustainable.
He then pointed to the major trades between the two countries, saying that due to recent changes in Iran’s economy and the country’s focus on the non-oil trade, Italy has been more focused in recent years on various industries especially in the field of providing technology and industrial machineries and it has tried to help Iran in this field.
Baloni reiterated that SMEs form the backbone of Italy’s economy and they help the national economic growth. He noted that SMEs in Italy are various and are run mostly by families, and cooperatives are mostly included in this category. He added but Italians believe cooperatives are more resistant than other models of the businesses and can help the economies of the countries in the critical conditions and for this reason it is backed by the Italian government.
He stated that cooperative sectors of Iran and Italy can cooperate and broaden the cooperation in this sector and cooperation with Iran in cooperative sector is very important for Italy. Baloni said there are several common grounds for cooperation between Iran and Italy like transfer of knowhow and sharing the successful experiences.
Then Baloni explained the stand of cooperative in the body of the Italian government and said it is sub-set of the labor ministry. He then pointed to the stand of women in the cooperative sector of Italy and said the role of women is very colorful in this sector. He said Italy believes the presence of women in the cooperatives will boost productivity, creativity and effectiveness in the economy and the government tries to improve the role of women in all components of the economy in the country.
He expressed readiness of his country to share its experience for transfer of knowhow and achievements and to cooperate in this field.
Baloni also added that Italy is currently moving towards green economy and it can help Iran in providing it with green technology. He said Italy held some events in 2020 to promote Iran’s economic and trade capacities for its Italian counterparts and expressed hope those events would continue in 2021.
