TEHRAN – It seems that Tehran and Helsinki are serious in their attempts to rebuild bilateral trade, having contracted from a high of $200 million in 2006 to a low of $23 million in 2014.

It was the highlight in remarks of high-ranking participants of the first Iran-Finland Business Seminar held in Tehran on December 8.

In the economic event, Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Ne’matzadeh laid emphasis on the potentials of Iran and Finland and expressed optimism towards the future of bilateral trade between the two countries.

Having referred to the conditions of the post-sanctions Iran, Ne’matzadeh underscored that Iran is seeking long-term, strategic economic ties with European countries in general, and Finland in particular, with a focus on joint investment in all economic, technical and executive domains.

Expressing Iran’s readiness to launch strengthened economic partnership with Finland, the Iranian minister showed interest in closer relationships between Iranian private sector and its Finnish counterpart, so that a synergistic movement can be triggered.

Among key cooperation areas Finland can collaborate with Iran, Ne’matzadeh stated, are environment, industry, information technology (IT), telecommunication, and modern technologies.

On the top of the possible cooperation areas referred to above, Ne’matzadeh enlisted stronger banking ties, rail and maritime transportation, trade services, export insurance and guarantee initiatives, as well as tourism and related infrastructures.

Ne’matzadeh’s address was preceded by the remarks of Finnish Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Lenita Toivakka, who is leading the biggest trade delegation of Finland ever dispatched to a foreign country.

Starting her address with a historical flashback to long-standing economic ties between Iran and Finland, Toivakka said her country is looking forwards to strengthening its commercial relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to the minister, the program of the two-day visit provides excellent opportunities for Iranian and Finnish companies to exchange ideas and establish new networks as well as to strengthen already existing relationships.

For the Finnish minister, Iran can benefit from her country’s world-class telecommunication advances, environment-friendly technologies, bio-economy and forestry, waste management programs, water and mining sectors, infrastructure, and construction sectors.

In addition to the ministerial addresses delivered, Masoud Khansari, the chairman of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (TCCIMA), welcomed Finland’s cooperation with Iran in the fields of IT, waste management, water resources management, and fuel conservation programs.

Moreover, Khansari expressed TCCIMA’s readiness for full cooperation with Finnish investors and businessmen and hoped that more Finnish trade delegation visit Iran in the future.