In an Iran-Belarus business forum on Tuesday, private sector representatives from both countries explored ways for making joint investments.
The business forum was hosted by Tehran Chamber of Commerce where 25 Belarusian businesspersons as well as the country’s ambassador to Tehran and a number of Iranian Foreign Ministry officials were present.
Speaking during the event, Secretary-General of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Bahman Eshghi referred to arbitrary sanctions imposed on Iran and Belarus which he said require joint efforts of governments and private sectors of both countries.
He expressed satisfaction with a joint commission meeting of the two countries held earlier in Minsk and voiced Iran’s readiness to provide Belarus with access to high seas via Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf.
Eshqi believed that Iran and Belarus can cooperate on different oil, gas, food, agricultural and technical and engineering services.
He also underlined the need for carrying out joint production projects in the light of a Eurasian trade agreement.
Belarus is one of the five members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) which is an economic union of some post-Soviet states located in Eurasia.
Tehran has long been seeking a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Iranian Parliament passed a government bill on a Free Trade Agreement with the bloc in June 2019, paving the way for Tehran to join a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) with the five-member union.
Also speaking during the business forum, Belarusian Ambassador to Tehran Dmitry Koltsov said that the presence of a large number of Belarusian private sector activists indicates that they are eager to expand relations with their Iranian counterparts.
We are looking to see what products are attractive to your market while we have provided the Iranian authorities with a list of products we have had difficulty for providing them, the ambassador said.