TEHRAN (Iran News) –Head of Iran-Japan Joint Committee says currently official trade between Iran and Japan has been almost zeroed and trade with Tokyo is currently done unofficially and through intermediary.
Speaking to ILNA, Bahram Shakouri said that currently Iran trades with China, Russia, Turkey, the UAE and Oman directly and trade with other countries is done through intermediary and there is no more direct trade with other states.
Touching upon the trade between Iran and Japan, Bahram Shakoori said that due to sanctions, direct trade between Iran and Japan has been almost zeroed, adding that it seems the trade between the two countries is pursued unofficially and through the intermediary.
He went on to say that Japan government and Japanese traders are eager to broaden trade ties with Iran because their trade ties date back to almost one century ago and this increased interest and enthusiasm for broadening economic exchanges.
He then pointed to high trade volume between Japan and the U.S. and said that Japan and the U.S. have considerable joint investment and therefore it is natural that after the U.S. sanctions, the Japanese preferred to restrict their trade with Iran. He stated that the national interests of the Japanese force them not to have direct trade with Iran.
Shakoori reiterated that in recent days that Western countries have increased sanctions against Iran, Japan has not followed them and has tried to keep tits ties with Iran as before.
He went on to say that the Japanese are interested in joint investment with Iran and this country due to its progress in technology and innovation can be a good option for Iran for cooperation in the field of technology, noting that but sanction is one of the main hurdles in way of arrival of Japan’s investment to Iran.
On the imports of cars from Japan, he said that currently there is no chance for direct cooperation with Japanese and South Korean auto-makers and middlemen import Japanese and South Korean cars via the third party and Iran may face problem for providing the spare parts of those cars in the future.
He went on to say that Iran needs to revise its diplomacy and ties with the world because currently Iran has only direct trade with China, Russia, Turkey, the UAE and Oman directly and trade with other states are done through the third party country.
