Iran, Italy aim to raise trade volume to $7 bn: Italian minister

Italy’s minister of economic development says Tehran and Rome are bent on boosting their trade volume to pre-sanctions level of USD 7 billion dollars a year.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh in Tehran on Wednesday, Federica Guidi said during past years Iran’s market has greatly changed and in order to start a new stage of economic cooperation, the two countries should take major steps.

“For example and as the first step, Iran and Italy should raise their trade volume to USD 7 billion a year,” where it was before sanctions were imposed on Iran.

The Italian minister noted that following conclusion of talks over Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna on July 14, the way has been paved for the resumption of cooperation between Iran and Italy.

“Iran is not just an 80-million-strong market for Italian companies, because these companies are planning to get access to 300-million-strong market of the Middle East in cooperation with Iranian companies and through supply of new products,” she said.

Guidi added that the two-day visit to Iran by the Italian delegation and negotiations with Iranian officials have provided a good opportunity for the resumption of cooperation between the two countries

The Italian minister said an important hallmark of the Italian delegation’s Tehran visit was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Italy’s export credit agency, SACE, and Iran’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance on Tuesday.

“The MoU will remove many obstacles on the way of cooperation between Iranian and Italian businesspeople. According to this memorandum, a three-billion-euro line of credit will be allocated to important infrastructural projects in Iran during the next three years,” she said.

Guidi is a member of an Italian delegation, which arrived in Iran on Tuesday, headed by Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

During their two-day stay in Iran, the Italian delegates met and conferred with a host of high-ranking Iranian officials including President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh.