TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (ICCIMA) hosted a forum on acquaintance with trade opportunities in Spain and all participants reiterated that there are various fields for joint economic co-operations between the two countries.
The international affairs department of the ICCIMA hosted the event with presence of officials from Embassy of Spain as well as economic activists who were interested in business in Spain.
In the meeting, the caretaker of ICCIMA Ms. Niloofa Asadi emphasized necessity for boosting the trade relation of Iran with different countries like Spain and said that enhancing the level of relation and facilitating the condition for trade connection is the goal of the department and reiterated that in this sector, using capacities of embassies for finding required solutions will be effective.
She went on to say that dispatch of trade delegations and efforts in line with production and joint investment is the priority of the chamber during the international relations of the country. She stipulated that Iran and Spain have had from the very past till today broad relations in different fields like tourism, hotel construction, agriculture and processing industries, renewable energies, pharmaceuticals and medical and due to this background it is required to make effort on course to improve and revival of relation between the two countries. She stated that in this relation, the cooperation between the governments of both countries for defining barter trade mechanisms and using the capacity of the joint commission which is to be held very soon.
Then Head of Iran-Spain Joint Chamber Mr. Mohammad Taheri, for his part, expressed his hope regarding the improvement of trade relation with Spain and said that the chamber is working to remove the existing hurdles although the main problem is sanctions and restriction in transfer of the forex.
He added that Iran and Spain have the experience of $3b trade volume and today Iran’s exports to Spain are around $150m while Spain’s imports from Iran are around $200m.He reiterated that the required grounds exist for cooperation between the two states and broad capacities for trade and joint investment can be define but it first requires all required infrastructures to be provided and the chamber is doing its best on this course.
Then Ambassador of Spain to Tehran Mr. Ángel Losada Fernandez, for his part, said identifying the opportunities for trade cooperation between the two countries is very important and said that Tehran and Madrid have good capacities for cooperation and since Spain now holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, it is a good opportunity for both countries to enhance their ties.
He also pointed to the energy as a field for cooperation between the two countries following the Ukraine-Spain war. He also announced efforts of Embassy of Spain in Tehran to reinforce trade between the two countries, adding that through the history the relation between Tehran and Madrid has continued although it has faced some ups and downs because of the condition, however, both sides have remained committed to maintain their relation and try to facilitate their bilateral trade.
Then Spain Embassy’s Commercial attaches to Tehran Mr. Inigo Gil-Casares, for his part, said that the economic capacities for boosting bilateral trade between Iran and Spain is broad, emphasized that Spain is the 14th world economy and fourth economy in Europe. He further said that tourism industry is the most important and money making industry of Spain in the country’s GDP and the country attract foreign investments, admitting that major part of development of the country is through attracting foreign investment. He recommended Iranians to cooperate in the field of renewable energies and creating big cluster of new technologies for using in industries.
Gil-Casares said that one cannot ignore the impacts off sanctions and said that there are a large number of opportunities for cooperation between Iran and Spain although they have a tough job ahead. He also said that both countries can cooperate in the automotive sector as Spain is the second biggest car producer in Europe as auto industry accounts for 18$ of this country’s export.
He then explained how Iranians can invest and launch company in Spain and taxation process in the country.
