Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has underlined the need for China to ease visa requirements for Iranian businesspeople as a prerequisite for further enhancement of economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
Niloofar Assadi, the ICCIMA caretaker of international affairs department, said that as China is emerging from the coronavirus pandemic, demands for receiving Chinese visa is on the rise which has more prolonged the process.
She made the remarks in a meeting in Iran Chamber of Commerce headquarters with Xu Qisong, the commercial counselor at the Chinese embassy in Tehran.
Development of business cooperation between Iran and China requires close cooperation and special planning between the commercial sectors both in the governments and in the private sectors, Assadi said.
Majidreza Hariri, the head of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, who was also present at the meeting, noted that a joint economic commission between Iran and China is scheduled to convene within the next few months.
The issue of obtaining visas should not consume the time and energy of the commercial departments of the two countries and it is necessary to solve this problem as soon as possible, he said.
Hariri further noted that the issuance of visas has to be further accelerated which he said relies on the governments of both countries to reach an agreement in this regard.
The Chinese diplomat, for his part expressed hope that the commercial sector of the Chinese embassy, in cooperation with Iran Chamber of Commerce and Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, can provide more facilities to solve the problem of Iranian businesspeople active in China.
Noting that issuing visa is not the sole objective of the embassy, Xu stressed the need for further planning to facilitate trade between the two nations as well as cooperation between different provinces of the two countries.