Reza Zarrabi, the chairman of Iran-Oman Joint Chamber of Commerce, said on Wednesday that a shipping line between Shahid Rajaei Port in southern Iran and Sohar Port of Oman will begin operating as of June 20.
The shipping line had stopped working due to the imposition of US unilateral sanctions on Iran in 2018 but it will resume operating following negotiations made by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Trade Promotion Organization of the country with Omani officials, Zarrabi said.
He made the remarks during an annual general assembly meeting of Iran-Oman Joint Chamber of Commerce which was attended by a number of officials from both countries, including, Oman’s Ambassador to Iran Ibrahim Ahmed al-Ma'aini.
Zarrabi said that the volume of trade between Iran and Oman hit $1.336 billion during the last Iranian fiscal year posting a 57% growth compared to that of a year earlier.
He also said that trade between the two countries in the first two months of this year (March 21 – May 21) has reached $203 million which is 128% up from the $89 million of last year’s corresponding period.
If bilateral trade between Iran and Oman continues to increase, a target annual trade of $2 billion can be achieved, Zarrabi noted.
In the meantime, the Omani ambassador to Iran hailed the growth in bilateral trade between the two countries and said that officials from both countries have to make efforts to further increase the level of bilateral trade.
He pledged to do his best to facilitate trade between the two countries.
“We welcome any joint project which will meet the benefits of both nations,” Al-Ma'aini said.
He said that the Omani embassy in Tehran is ready for any kind of cooperation with Iranian economic activists despite the existing sanction on Iran.