President of Iran Chamber of Commerce Industries, Mines and Agriculture Gholam Hossein Shafei said on Tuesday that the chamber has plans to promote relations with Finland, referring to opening Iran-Finland Joint Chamber of Commerce within the next three weeks.
Shafei made the remarks during a meeting with Finnish ambassador to Tehran Keijo Norvanto.
He said that Finland is a European country with high economic growth and high level of public welfare, noting that it is of special importance for Iran to make use of the experiences of this country.
Referring to Iran’s natural geographical position and widespread drought, Shafei said that Iran is eager to use Finland's experiences in the aquaculture, marine industries, as well as the proper use of water with new methods.
He pointed to the negative impact of the US unilateral sanctions on Iranian economy, saying the sanctions caused a $30 billion fall in trade interactions between Iran and the European Union, something that he said cannot be ignored by the two sides.
The Finnish ambassador, for his part, referred to the inauguration of the new Iranian president, and said that his country is waiting to see the new approaches of the new Iranian government.
Iran-Finland Joint Committee has had useful discussions at the Finnish embassy in Tehran, Norvanto said, expressing hope that the embassy would be able to help boost trade relations between the two countries.
The ambassador said that, during his presence in Tehran, he had witnessed that Iran had been able to grow economically despite the tough sanctions on the country.
He expressed hope that trade relations between Iran and Finland would further grow with the removal of sanctions.