The Director of Commercial Attachés Office of Iranian Trade
Promotion Organization (TPO) announced that license was issued to establish a
trade center in Saudi Arabia, and the center started its activity in Jeddah.
Mohammad
Rajab-Nejad announced, “We currently have 46 active trade centers in other
countries, and licenses have been issued for the establishment of trade centers
in Kirgizstan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.”
During a meeting between Iranian Finance and Economic
Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi and Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan,
in mid-May, the two sides discussed the ways to expand economic cooperation and
remove the barriers in the way of trade between the two countries.
In the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the
annual meeting of the Board of Executive Directors of the Islamic Development
Bank (IsDB) in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian minister expressed satisfaction with
the re-establishment of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and said, “We
hope that quick steps will be taken in relations with Iran.”
“In this regard, it is necessary to remove the economic and
trade barriers against the two countries”, he stressed.
The
Iranian minister welcomed the progress of economic relations between the two
countries and stated that the development of relations is important not only
for Iran and Saudi Arabia but also for all countries in the region.
Stating that it is the duty of governments to facilitate
economic ties, Khandouzi said these bilateral relations are very important not
only from an economic point of view but also in the political and security
fields.
Explaining Iran's program in the field of economic relations
with Saudi Arabia, Khandouzi said, “At the government level, Iran and Saudi
Arabia have not finalized any basic agreement in the field of investment,
customs, and trade. In this regard, it is necessary to draw up and sign MoUs
between the parties.”
The
Saudi Arabian side, while agreeing to cooperate in the three fields of customs,
trade, and investment, expressed hope that with the assistance of his country’s
ministries, cooperation in the mentioned fields will be followed up.
Also, in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro
published in late May, the Iranian foreign minister said the reconciliation
between Iran and Saudi Arabia is more than just a tactical agreement, and both
nations have decided to advance their economic and commercial ties.
Hossein
Amir Abdollahian also mentioned that the Saudi government has prioritized
investment in Iran.
“I talked about economic issues during my recent meeting
with my Saudi counterpart,” the top diplomat said, adding, “We both agreed to
develop our economic and commercial relations in the months and years to come.”
He continued by saying that the Saudi government now
prioritizes the completion of economic initiatives.
In early July, the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries,
Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) held a seminar titled "Economic cooperation
between Iran and Saudi Arabia; Private sector perspective".
With the strong presence of the TCCIMA members and
representatives of the private sector, the seminar was held at the place of
TCCIMA, where the speakers pointed to the capacities, challenges and future of
Iran-Saudi Arabia relations and emphasized that the private sector can help
advance political relations between the two countries and further cooperation
in international forums by developing economic relations.
At the beginning of this seminar, Ferial Mostofi, the head
of the Investment Services Center of TCCIMA, referred to the agreement between
the political authorities of Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore relations and
said, “In its economic diplomacy, Saudi Arabia smartly focuses on connecting to
global value chains, paying attention to domestic and foreign investment; and
developing trade, and economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia can be viewed from
these three perspectives.”
Saudi Arabia is also taking steps to strengthen
international trade by simplifying customs procedures, low import tariffs, and
introducing new instruments to promote exports to open new markets for the
products and services of Saudi companies, she added.
In Iran, especially in the private sector, there are many
capabilities and experiences in the field of downstream oil and gas industries,
mining and mineral industries, health, construction, technical and engineering
services, chemical industries, construction and light industries, food and
agriculture industries, etc. Many of these capabilities have been the result of
the private sector’s efforts. In this regard, the Chamber of Commerce can be a
window of effective communication between the private sectors of the two
countries and thus help to expand the relations between the two countries,
Mostofi stated.
Addressing the same seminar, Bahman Eshqi, the
secretary-general of TCCIMA, referred to the high capacities of Iran and Saudi
Arabia as two large and influential countries in West Asia, and said that the
private sectors should play a role instead of governments in the development of
economic relations between the two countries.
