TEHRAN (Iran News) – Head of International Affairs of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Mohammad Reza Karbasi in meeting with new and outgoing commercial attaches of Vietnam in Tehran criticized the considerable decline in the economic relation of the two countries and urged Vietnam to use alternative financial avenues in trade with Iran to boost it.
In the meeting, Karbasi said due to the banking problems due to the sanctions, both countries can use barter as a solution for enhancing their trade ties. He said the senior officials of the two countries eye the trade volume of at least $2b but despite plans, today we see considerable decline in the bilateral trade. He then pointed to some goods required by Iran which can be provided by Vietnam and said experience has shown us that there are good capacities for restoring trade relations in the fields of petrochemical, mining, agro, medicines and medical equipment, sea foods and products and rubber.
Karbasi then pointed to the lack of direct flight between Tehran and Hanoi and said it was expected after the formation of Iran-Vietnam Joint Chamber and Joint Council all-out bilateral cooperation would continue in higher levels between the two states which did not materialize, noting that restriction on visa issuance is also another hurdle in way of joint cooperation.
He then referred to some details of the Iran-Vietnam Joint commission meeting and signing the preferential tariff agreement on some goods which did not come into effect. He noted that there are good capacities for export of rice, tropical fruits and products from Vietnam to Iran and if there is a strong determination in Vietnam, it can import Iranian industrial and agro products in exchange of exporting its products to Tehran.
Karbasi then once again called for re-activation of the joint commercial council of the two countries.
Then the outgoing Vietnamese commercial attache Lin Bang Kok, for his part, expressed the interests of all companies in Vietnam for cooperation with Iran and reiterated that Vietnamese economic activists have no specific information on the business climate in Iran and they are willing to cooperate with their Iranian counterparts under a specified and a defined framework.
He then pointed to the lack of banking system in the trade exchanges and said that since in the field of bartering Vietnam is importer and exporter of different products, it is required some coordination is prepared in advance.
Ban Kok then referred to the joint commission meeting of the two countries and said for exchange of delegation both sides need sanitary agreement between the two states due to the pandemic. He said the embassy has referred its views to the senior officials over easing the visa for Iranian traders.
Then the new Vietnamese commercial attache Mr. Thuan Long, for his part, said there are several tropical fruits and rice in Vietnam for exports and said the trade volume between Iran and Vietnam was less than $100m last year and called it an unreal figure because some of the exchanges between the two countries are not registered due to the sanction condition.
