Iran Chamber of Commerce calls Oman a safe corridor for the re-export of Iranian commodities to the Arab world, Europe and Africa.
“Oman enjoys a special place in Iran’s foreign policy that focuese on strengthening ties with regional and Islamic countries,” said Gholam Hossein Shafei, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) President in a meeting with Undersecretary for the Omani Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Hamed Said Al-Oufi in Tehran on Wednesday.
“For us, Oman is a safe corridor through which we can re-export our commodities to Arab, African and European countries,” Shafei added, highlighting the Persian Gulf country’s geopolitical location.
The president of the Iranian private sector parliament praised the good investment and economic cooperation facilities that have been provided by Oman for Iranian businesses.
He called for more joint investment projects between Iranian and Omani private sector fishing companies in a bid to help Iranian companies export their goods to Europe, Arab and African countries.
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Undersecretary for the Omani Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Hamed Said Al-Oufi, left, holds talks with Gholam Hossein Shafei, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) on Wednesday. (Credit: Iran Chamber Newsroom, Bahareh Taghi Abadi)
The Omani official hailed Iran’s achievements in fishery industries, saying Muscat can make good use of the Iranian knowledge and success stories in this regard. “Iran and Oman should cooperate with each other. There is no other way,” he emphasised.
“We can offset some of our marine needs such as dried shrimp from Iranian companies as they can sail and fish deep into the Indian Ocean,” Al-Oufi said in the meeting.
Al Oufi said Oman has created several small ports in front of the Iranian ports of Bandar Abbas and Jask with low tariffs that can be used as a good place for joint Iranian-Omani companies.
Oman and Iran enjoy warm and friendly relations and have been eager to upgrade their trade ties through the transit and transport from southern Iranian ports to several Omani cities, including the Sohar Free Zone, located in the north of the country, some 200 kilometers west of the capital Muscat.
Their bilateral trade has doubled during the past five years. “Despite all the animosity from the US and cruel sanction, the two countries’ bilateral trade rose from 221 million dollars in 2013 to $1,200,000 in 2018,” Zarrabi mentioned.
Earlier in December, the joint chamber of commerce announced the launch of a fourth direct shipping line between Iran and Oman. The new private sector shipping line between Iran’s southern Jask Port and Oman’s Al Suwaiq Port is used to transport wholesale Iranian commodities to the Persian Gulf country using containers.
Joint Iran-Oman Chamber of Commerce President Mohsen Zarrabi said Iran needs to have access to the two Omani ports of Sohar and Salalah in a bid to be able to re-export the produced commodities to other regional and world countries.
He stressed that Tehran is ready to share its fishery experiences and knowledge with Oman in a bid to promote more economic cooperation between the two Persian Gulf countries.