TEHRAN – A trade delegation comprising 130 businessmen from Germany’s Bavaria state arrived in Iran on Saturday to explore investment opportunities.

Bavaria’s Minister for Economic Affairs Ilse Aigner is heading the delegation, which comprises representatives from across a wide range of industrial enterprises mostly those active in the area of the automobile industry and electrical devices.

Aigner held talks with Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian on water, wastewater, and electricity projects. After the meeting, the German minister expressed hope that cooperation with Iran would be expanded considerably.

Chitchian, for his part, said that memoranda of understanding have been signed by Iranian d German companies. If banking problems are removed, the MOUs will take effect, he noted.

Aigner in a statement that was released before arriving in Tehran announced that the removal of sanctions against Iran can be the beginning of a new era in trade ties between Iran and Bavaria.

She described Iran as “a very attractive and profitable market” for European enterprises, adding that trade ties between Bavaria and Iran can increase at least four folds.

The value of Iran-Bavaria trade in 2014 stood at about €220 million. The figure was lower than 2009 by at least 50 percent.