President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam Hossein Shafei voiced ICCIMA’s support for forming joint committees between local chambers of Iran and Iraq which he said would help support trade between the two neighboring countries in a specialized way.
Shafei, who was on a visit to Iraq at the head of a top-ranking economic delegation, made the remarks during a visit to Iraqi local Chamber of Najaf.
Speaking during the meeting between the Iranian delegation and the businesspersons of Najaf, Chairman of Najaf Chamber of Commerce, Haider Al-Ethari said that Najaf Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest chambers of Iraq dating back to 1950.
He noted that economic cooperation between businesspersons of Iran and Najaf has been mostly focused on rendering cervices to pilgrims which has to be expanded so as to include other parts.
The Iran Chamber chief, for his part, said that there are many grounds for cooperation between Iran and Iraq, however, regretting that the two countries have not been successful in transfer of information between the businesspersons of the two sides.
Shafei said that tourism cooperation has been damaged due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus disease. “Economic activists need to take further steps to further boost cooperation both in health tourism and religious tourism.”
He also proposed that Iran and Iraq hold joint permanent exhibitions which he believed will yield good results considering the cultural common grounds between the two countries.
The Iran Chamber chief expressed hope that an agreement for setting up a joint arbitration center between Iran and Iraq reached during meetings by the Iranian visiting delegation with Iraqi officials would help resolve disputes between the businesspersons from the two countries.
In the meantime, Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, the head of Majlis (Iranian Parliament) Economic Commission, who was also a member of the Iranian delegation to Iraq, voiced serious support of Majlis for economic activities of the private sector.
“Our purpose in Iraq with this high-level delegation is to support the private sector in relation with other countries, especially the neighboring ones,” Pourebrahimi said.
Iraq enjoys a special place in Iran’s economic relations, the lawmaker said, noting that Majlis favors the expansion of such relations between different provinces of the two countries.