Addressing the meeting, Karbasi said that Iran and Sweden can have high-level cooperation with each other in the field of engineering and technical services, adding that Sweden is a country that is in a high position in the world in terms of progress in types of services and equipment, and by the way, Iran has good experience and considerable capability in the field of technical and engineering services.

He went on to say that Sweden is one of the most developed countries in the world and it has always had sensitive and close economic relation with Iran, adding that in the past years, Swedish companies have opened offices in Iran although in the past two years and after the reimposition of sanctions, those companies decided to leave Iran market but some of them have remained committed and continued their cooperation with fits and starts.

Karbasi added that the foreign trade volume of Sweden was over $320b in 2019 while Sweden’s trade volume with Iran has declined from $500m in 2019 to $70m in 2019. He expressed hope that the country would see an increase in economic cooperation with Sweden with the increase in economic cooperation and existing capacity, and with the efforts of the joint chamber of commerce as well as a change in Sweden’s approach regarding cooperation.

He hailed the efforts of the Iran Sweden Chamber of Commerce for its efforts which topped it among the joint chambers in the country.

Then Rezaei briefed the participants on the economic properties of Sweden and the country’s mentality regarding the economic activities. He said that despite having huge natural resources, Sweden has never resorted to selling raw material and avoided it, adding that the production of goods is several times more than its imports and people try to use home-made products especially in the field of agro products.

He also said trade with the EU accounts for 70 percent of Sweden’s total foreign trade, and Norway, Germany, the U.S., and Finland are the major trade partners of Sweden, and the Netherlands, France, and the UK are also among the other trade partners of this country, noting that among the Asian countries, China tops the list of Sweden’s trade partners.

Rezaie went on to say that most of Iran’s exports to Sweden are types of raw materials of course dried-fruits and foodstuff are also among Iran’s exports. He noted that some Iranian goods are exported to Sweden via London and Iranian pistachio and carpet are provided via the Hamburg market. He reiterated that Iran’s imports from Sweden are capital commodities like packing, telecommunications, mining equipment as well as technical know-how.

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Speaking to ICCIMA website Abdolreza Rezaei Honjani, he blamed domestic economic woes as the major factor for slowing down or halts foreign investments and exports. He also emphasized the approach of Swedish companies for improving the cooperation process for investment and called the joint cooperation with this country in case of removing sanctions to be very important and effective.

He then pointed to the cooperation between Iran and Sweden which started some 70 years ago with the arrival of the first models of Volvo trucks in Iran and added the first economic relation between Iran and Sweden was set by importing heavy trucks of Swedish company Volvo and it gradually expanded to other fields and industries like mineral industries.

Rezaei pointed to the Swedish presence in Sarcheshmeh and Golgohar mines projects as an example for the joint cooperation between the two countries and then pointed to other fields of cooperation between the two countries like reinforcing telecommunication waves, building a power plant, and packing industries in the field of dairy production.

He stated that the economic cooperation between Iran and Sweden has always been defined on joint investment and exports of different types of capital goods like technical know-how and industrial pieces of machinery, and they have been less focused on the export of consumer goods.

Rezaei reiterated the Swedish have entered Iran’s market in a way that as well as improving the occupation in the country, they transfer the needed technology and improve the level of quality of production; therefore cooperation and relation with this country has been important for Iran.

He admitted that Swedish companies do not seek risks in their business and since Sweden’s trade with Iran accounts for only 0.5 % of Sweden’s total exports, the companies despite an eagerness to continue cooperation avoid it due to the sanctions, and for this reason, the trade relation between Tehran and Stockholm has declined after the sanctions.

Rezaei also pointed to the cooperation of big Swedish companies with Iranian state companies, adding that since the past, relations between both countries have been focused on auto-making and mining industries and they have paid less heed to the small and medium-sized companies.

He went on to say that Iran’s private sector is keen to restore the past relations as well as boosting relations between small and medium-sized enterprises of both countries.

He reiterated that the economy does not move on command, and in order to boost international relations, new and upgraded methods away from commanding policies are required for presence in the markets.

Rezaei added that most of Iran’s exports to Sweden are done by the baggage which is mostly related to the foodstuff sector, adding that Iranian carpet and pistachio are exported to Sweden via the Hamburg market. He noted that the total direct export of Iran to Sweden stood at $11m in 2019 and including the unregistered exports, the figure can reach around $16m. He also said that Iran’s imports from Sweden stood at $51m in 2019 while both countries’ total trade volume was over $370m in 2018 which shows it has declined by $80m in 2019.

He reiterated that even the sanctions are lifted due to the banking problems and not approving FATF and CFT laws in the country, restoring banking ties with other countries is impossible or very difficult.

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