TEHRAN (Iran News) –Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has praised the recent agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties, saying the detente will boost bilateral trade and investment.

Khandouzi, who arrived on Thursday in the Saudi city of Jeddah to attend the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group’s Annual Meetings, referred to the potential economic benefits of Tehran-Riyadh rapprochement, which was achieved on March 10 after China-mediated talks in Beijing.

“The agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia with the help of friendly countries will create more trade and investment opportunities in both states,” Khandouzi said on Friday on the sidelines of the event.

“We believe that the expansion of economic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia is a win-win relationship that will serve the interests of both countries as well as the region,” he added.

Leading a senior economic team, Khandouzi is the first Iranian minister to visit Saudi Arabia after the signing of the agreement. He will meet with Saudi officials as well as counterparts from other Muslim nations.

He is also scheduled to speak at the annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank, a Jeddah-based bank that supports infrastructure projects with Islamic finance.

Khandouzi said last month that Iran aimed to raise its annual trade with Saudi Arabia to $1 billion in the first step of resuming economic ties. He said this target was set by the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO) based on the two countries’ capacities.

Khandouzi also said the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on strengthening ties with neighboring states.

“We have had good achievements in the past 1.5 years and expect a rising growth in economic, trade, and investment ties with neighbors,” he said.

Tehran believes in benefiting from the capabilities of Islamic Development Bank members, the minister said, noting that the recent meeting in Jeddah can pave the way for increased cooperation.

Pointing to Iran’s progress in various technologies such as in the production of medical equipment, medicine, and power plants, as well as in bio- and nanotechnology, the minister said that Tehran is determined to share this progress with the member states and other Muslim nations.

Meanwhile Khandouzi said Iran and Saudi Arabia will have good achievements in economic relations.

Ehsan Khandouzi in an interview with Sharq Al-Awsat said: I will meet with the Minister of Economic Affairs of Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the meeting and I believe that Iran and Saudi Arabia are on the path of interaction, and economic relations will have good results.

“The policy of President Raisi’s administration is to develop relations with neighbors and Arab countries,” the minister said, adding, “So, we welcome any things that lead to closer relations with neighbors and Arab countries and the development of these relations, including strengthening relations.”

Responding to Sharq Al-Awsat’s reporter about the solutions to the world’s challenges, Khandouzi highlighted: After the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences, countries have learned to have more economic interactions.

The Minister of Economy noted: “The agenda of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and our proposal to overcome these crises is to use the technology of Islamic countries and expand economic interactions between the countries of the world and especially the region.”

Meanwhile Khandouzi met with his Saudi counterpart in the kingdom’s port city of Jeddah in the first such development to follow the conclusion of a détente between the countries under China’s auspices.

The meeting took place between Khandouzi and Mohammed Aljadaan on the sidelines of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group’s Annual Meetings.

“The two ministers, who met for the first time in years, discussed opportunities to develop and strengthen relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” the Saudi Gazette English-language daily reported.

Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after angry protesters stormed the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran. The Iran protests were caused by Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr.