TEHRAN- Iranian economic delegation met representatives from 100 Latvian companies in the Latvia-Iran Business Forum, which was held in Radisson Blue Daugava Hotel in Latvia’s capital city of Riga on Thursday, IRNA reported.

The forum was held with participation of more than 60 Iranian businessmen active in timber processing, metalworking, oil refining, mechanical engineering, transport and logistics, plastics industry, mining, finance and banking, health care, food, agriculture, ICT and other areas.

“Latvia is interested in direct flights between both countries,” said Latvian parliament speaker Inara Murniece during the meeting with visiting Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Baltic-course cited LETA, the main Latvian information agency.

Latvia is interested to continue talks about air traffic agreement and launch direct flights between both countries in the future, said Murniece. Latvia’s national airline airBaltic is considering new destinations, and Iran could be one of them, considering the growing interest of Iran’s tourists in Latvia, said Murniece.

She said that the broad Iranian delegation, accompanying the foreign minister on a visit to Latvia is a clear signal that a new page is opened in the economic relations between both countries.

The Iranian delegation, headed by Zarif, kicked off its official visit to four North European countries including Poland, Finland, Sweden, and Latvia on May 29 to hold talks with senior officials of the four countries, and participate in meetings with their businesspeople and industrialists.

According to Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture Mohsen Jalalpour, $1.2 billion worth of economic cooperation documents were signed during Zarif’s visit to Poland and Finland.

“Some of the documents are in the form of memorandum of understanding, and some in the form of contract,” IRNA quoted Jalalpour as saying on Wednesday.

HJ/MA