TEHRAN (Iran News) – Tehran, Budapest Call for Revival of Their Trade Volume. Iran and Hungary have called for revival of the bilateral trade to at least $200b which had been set in 2018 and it has currently declined due to the sanctions and pandemic.

Deputy Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Mohammadreza Karbasi met with the Hungarian commercial attaché in Tehran on Monday to discuss ways of expanding trade ties between the two countries.

During the meeting, the two sides explored some of the potential areas for mutual cooperation and called for taking necessary measures for boosting the level of trade to the pre-sanction levels and even higher, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Speaking in the meeting, Karbasi noted that Iran-Hungary trade stood at $200 million in 2018, however, the figure fell to $35 million due to sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

“We must try to reach the volume of trade to the 2018 level and even more,” the official stressed.

He pointed out that Hungarian agricultural products make up a large share (about 25 percent) of the country’s exports, suggesting that the ICCIMA and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the embassies of the two countries, should organize webinars and face-to-face talks between the two countries’ traders in the field of agriculture to facilitate the trade in this area.

“Considering the export potentials of Iran and Hungary in the field of agriculture, it is possible to exchange a list of products and demanded goods in this field in order to expand collaborations in this sector,” Karbasi said.

He further called on the Hungarian embassy and especially the country’s commercial attaché in Tehran to take the necessary measures for facilitating the trade between the two countries and to boost the level of economic exchanges to the pre-sanction levels.

The Hungarian official for his part expressed interest in holding business webinars between the two sides and it was decided to hold two online webinars in the fields of agricultural and medical equipment in the near future.

Holding specialized B2B video conferences in the fields of agriculture and medical equipment, considering a preferential trade agreement between the two countries, bartering of goods and services and paving the way for the expansion of trade cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the two countries, were among the suggestions that the two sides made for boosting the level of trade between the two countries.

He then pointed to the sanctions against Iran and the pandemic, expressing hope that problems and sanctions would be resolved because Hungarian businessmen are keen to cooperate with their Iranian counterparts.

The Hungarian diplomat also pointed to the history of good cooperation between the two states, adding that before the pandemic, Hungary hosted over 3,000 Iranian students who have chosen the Hungarian universities through scholarship.

He added that despite restrictions because of the sanctions, Hungarian Embassy in Tehran supports issuing visas for Iranian tradesmen.

He expressed hope the trade level between Iran and Hungary would gradually grow and reach a figure that the two countries deserve it.