Vice-President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Qadir Qiafeh has stressed that the establishment of direct flights between Iran and Vietnam is regarded as the main step to increase the level of trade cooperation.
He made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran on Monday with Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang.
Noting that the current $150 million trade between Iran and Vietnam is far behind the potentials, he said that signing a preferential trade agreement can further increase bilateral exchanges.
The Iran Chamber of Commerce vice president also referred to some problems on the way of financial transactions between Iran and Vietnam which he believed could be solved via barter trade.
He said that Iran has unilaterally cancelled visa requirements for Vietnamese nationals and expects Hanoi to facilitate visa requirements for Iranian businesspeople introduced by the country’s chamber of commerce.
Pointing to the establishment of Iran-Vietnam Joint Chamber of Commerce, Qiafeh urged the need for forming a mirror chamber in Vietnam.
He expressed the willingness of Iran Chamber of Commerce to dispatch a trade delegation to Vietnam and receive delegations from the country.
The Vietnamese deputy foreign minister, in the meantime, voiced her country’s readiness to cooperate with Iran in different economic, investment, and agricultural areas.
Underlining that the Iranian and Vietnamese economies complement each other, Hang called on the Iran Chamber of Commerce to introduce Iranian importers to the Vietnamese embassy. She said that the embassy will do so in return.
She also said that Vietnam is eager to cooperate with Iran on the area of Halal food, adding that the country has made good achievements in this industry.
The official welcomed the proposal by the vice president of Iran Chamber of Commerce for dispatching and receiving trade delegations which she said would help familiarize the businesspeople on both sides about the potentials of one another.