Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) is seeking to launch Iran-Saudi Arabia Joint Chamber of Commerce, according to a person with the knowledge of the matter.
Political and economic cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as two main countries of the region, can help promote regional stability, Keyvan Kashefi, a board member of Iran Chamber of Commerce said on Monday.
Kashefi’s remarks come few weeks after a China-brokered deal between Tehran and Riyadh to restore relations after seven years.
Iran and Saudi Arabia severed ties in 2016 after angry protesters rushed into Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran following the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr.
Foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia are expected to meet within the next couple of weeks to reopen embassies in the two capitals.
Kashefi believed that the normalization of relations between Tehran and Riyadh was the most significant development in Iran’s political and economic relations in the past month which is highly welcomed by the private sector.
“We also plan to start exchanges of trade delegations immediately after the reopening of embassies and the deployment of the ambassadors,” he said.
Noting that the volume of trade between the two countries did not go beyond $200 million at its peak in the year to March 2013, he urged the need for further efforts to give a boost to bilateral trade.