In the meeting, the founders of the chamber elected board of directors and chairman and explored ways to boost cooperation between the two countries especially between their private sectors.

Speaking in the meeting, Deputy Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) for International Affairs Mohammad-Reza Karbasi said despite the existing capacities, the trade volume between the two countries is insignificant and it is estimated at $7.5m.

According to him, both countries have cooperated in the fields of the construction materials, petrochemicals, dried fruits and medicines  and Iran’s major imports from Finland has been technology.

Karbasi went on to say that Iran-Finland Joint Committee had been established about one and a half years ago and after some actions and boosting ties, it could be considered as one of the most active committees at the ICCIMA and therefore, both sides decided to launch the Iran-Finland Joint Chamber of Commerce. He also called support of embassies necessary for boosting trade, adding that one of the demands of Iranian economic activists is to ease visa process and banking actions as well as easing the way for the presence of Iranian traders in the upcoming exhibition in Finland.

He also announced urged Iran’s embassy in Finland to support Iranian traders in Finland for restoring more effective ties with the Finnish bodies.

Then Vice President of Finland Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of International Chamber of Commerce ICC in Finland Mr. Timo Vuori, for his part, in this online meeting pointed to the damages which the COVID-19 pandemic has caused in Iran, saying that massive vaccination is very important against COVID-19 and in this line, Finland has started vaccination of its people and it will spare no support in providing Iran with required vaccines.

He then pointed to the challenges resulted by the sanctions, saying that everybody knows that cooperation has not been so easy during the sanctions era and during in this period, the Finnish Chamber of Commerce has had meetings with economic activists and traders and they know the challenges and expressed his gratitude to the embassies of both countries, expressing hope the cooperation between Iran and Finland would continue like the past.

According to Vuori, Iran-Finland Joint Chamber of Commerce is a good and proper mechanism and should be supported in order that companies can restore broad trade relations. He also said cooperation with the joint chamber is a very necessary act and emphasized that in the future, these two bodies will find ways for expansion of cooperation and will take the operational steps.

Then head of Iran-Finland Joint Committee Mr. Gholam-Hossein Jamili, for his part, expressed hope on the launch of Iran-Finland Joint Chamber of Commerce and called it a beginning of a new chapter in this field, adding that traders should develop ties based on logical trade principles without any political approach and the chamber will have a colorful role in it.

He claimed after putting behind the coronavirus crisis, the condition for cooperation will get better. He then referred to an exhibition which is to be held in Finland in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship and startups and said urged Finnish Embassy and Finland Chamber of Commerce to ease the presence of Iranian enthusiasts in this big event.

Then voting process for electing the board of directors continued and eight were elected to the board of Iran-Finland Joint Chamber of Commerce.

The post Iran-Finland Joint Chamber of Commerce Set Up appeared first on Iran News Daily.

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.

The post Tehran, Budapest Call for Revival of Their Trade Volume appeared first on Iran News Daily.