Niloofar Assadi, the caretaker of the international affairs of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA), has urged the need for Serbia to cut tariffs on Iranian exports to the country.
Assadi made the remarks at a conference in Tehran on Monday to discuss the potentials for trade between Iran and Serbia.
Noting that imposition of high tariffs on Iranian exports to Serbia has made it difficult for Iranian products to compete with products of other countries, she also highlighted the necessity for signing a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Assadi believed that the fields of agriculture and tourism, particularly health tourism and sports tourism, are among areas in which Iran and Serbia can cooperate.
Referring to banking and monetary problems on the way of bilateral trade, she said that barter trade can be a good alternative for monetary exchanges.
Also speaking at the conference, Serbia’s Ambassador to Iran Dragan Todorovic said that Iran and Serbia enjoy high potentials for agricultural cooperation, saying that he has proposed for formation of a joint agricultural cooperation committee.
He also said that Iran-Serbia Joint Economic Cooperation Commission is scheduled to convene in late October when he believed the two countries can discuss joint investments and hold B2B meetings.
The ambassador said that the Iranian businesspeople can launch companies in Serbia and open bank accounts in the country soon.
Also addressing the conference, Iran’s Ambassador to Belgrade Rashid Hassanpour said that Iran is set to dispatch a commercial attaché to Serbia in the near future.
The ambassador referred to high tariffs for Iranian products, as well as transportation, financial and banking problems and restrictions for making investments in Serbia caused by the Western sanctions on Iran as the main obstacles on the way of enhancement of trade between the two countries.
He stressed that making use of barter trade in exchanges between Iran and Serbia is one of the best solutions.