TEHRAN - A delegation of France’s main business group, Medef, comprising about 130 firms, including top companies such as Total and Peugeot, arrived in Tehran Monday with the aim of encouraging future trade deals.

The delegation was also accompanied by trade and agriculture ministers, making it the first visit to Iran by a foreign trade minister or a minister responsible for a French economic sector for 12 years, according to the French foreign ministry.

According to European Commission statistics for 2014, the export value of goods from France to Iran totally almost 453 million euros ($510.5 million), whereas the import value from Iran was worth just over 29 million euros.

A decade previously, however, and French exports to the Islamic republic peaked, valued at 2.3 billion euros, showing the steep decline in exports decreased and why France might be so keen to restore those relations.

---- Signing agricultural cooperation agreement

Iran and France made an agreement on expansion of bilateral ties in the agriculture sector, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

The agreement was signed in a meeting between Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati and French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll in Tehran on Monday.

Cooperation on subjects such as trade of agricultural products, production of plants, exchange of technical knowledge and issues related to food security, livestock and their health was mentioned in the agreement.

Iran and France also signed six memorandums of understanding in May to enhance cooperation in the farming and fishery sectors. 

----Furthering cooperation with Total welcomed

National Iranian Oil Company’s managing Director Rokneddin Javadi says NIOC welcomes furthering cooperation with the French oil giant Total.

Javadi made the statement in a meeting with Arnauld Breuillac, Total’s president for exploration and production, in Tehran on Monday.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed common grounds for cooperation. “Total has announced readiness for cooperation in Iran’s newly revealed oil contracts,” the Shana news agency quoted Javadi as saying. “Fresh contracts, once unveiled, will propose exploration, development, maintenance, and production boost projects and opportunities within a novel framework, in compliance with which foreign firms can cooperate.”

CAP: Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati (R) and French Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll signed an agreement in Tehran on Monday.