TEHRAN– The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has decided to open a trade office in Tehran, Australia’s Ambassador to Iran Paul Foley said in his meeting with Mehdi Karbasian, the board of directors’ chairman of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

Foley said the Australian Trade Commission, Austrade, is planning to send a trade delegation to Iran before May, official website of IMIDRO reported.

The delegation will be led by Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew John Robb.

Major Australian companies in the field of mining, industry and commerce would also be part of the delegation.

Australian firms and companies, Foley said, are willing to expand collaboration with their Iranian counterparts, especially in the field of mines and mining industries.

Meanwhile, Karbasian noted that Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade Mohammad Reza Ne’matzadeh has sent an invitation letter for the Australian Director General of the Department of Mines and Petroleum Richard Sellers.

Back in August, Gerard Seeber, the Austrade’s senior trade commissioner for the Middle East and North Africa announced Australian companies’ interest to make investment in Iran’s mining projects.

Australia exported over $155.6 million worth of products to Iran in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20. 

The country imported $25 million worth of goods from Iran in the previous calendar year, according to Iran Customs Administration. 

The International Organizing Committee of the World Mining Congress has ranked Iran as the 8th country in the world in terms of mineral production.   

The organization has put the country’s total mineral production, including metal and non-metal products, precious stones, as well as oil and gas, at $162 billion in 2013. 

Foreign companies are racing to secure business opportunities in Iran after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries reached an agreement over Tehran’s nuclear program in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 14. 

SJ/