President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam Hossein Shafei said that leveling up annual trade exchanges between Iran and Syria to more than $1 billion requires further contribution of the private sectors of both sides and Iran’s presence in Syria’s reconstruction projects.
Shafei made the remarks addressing an Iran-Syria Joint Trade Forum in Tehran on Monday which was also participated by a top-ranking Syrian private sector delegation to the Iranian capital.
He noted that the private sectors of both countries need further support from the governments to create the necessary infrastructure for implementation of the already signed agreements between the two countries on free trade, transportation, banking relations and so on.
Shafei said that the clear message of this forum is the real willingness of the Iranian and Syrian businesspersons for further bilateral cooperation.
Referring to the progress made in Iran’s agricultural sector and the existence of fertile lands in Syria, the Iran Chamber of Commerce chief said that the two countries can cooperate on overseas farming.
In the meantime, Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Shafiq Dayoub, who was also present at the event, said that Iran and Syria enjoy strategic historical relations which were founded more than four decades ago by two late leaders of the two countries Imam Khomeini and Hafez al-Assad.
Dayoub said he was sure that bilateral relations between Iran and Syria would further prosper during the term of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi.
The ambassador called for joint efforts by both Tehran and Damascus to upgrade the level of relations in trade, economic, health and media areas to match with the level of cordial political relations.
He noted that the volume of trade between the two countries has doubled over the past one year, adding that this is still far below the trade capacities of Iran and Syria.
Also addressing the forum, President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce Muhammad Abu Al-Huda Al-Lahham, who headed the Syrian delegation to Tehran, said that “today 45 Syrian businesspersons and economic activists from different sectors are present in the Syrian delegation to get familiar with their Iranian counterparts and establish direct relations so as to pave the way for further trade between the two countries in the future.”
Al-Lahham referred to the problems on the way of promotion of economic relations between Iran and Syria and said that these problems can be reduced by signing different agreements.