TEHRAN- Hiroaki Nakanishi, the chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), voiced his country’s readiness for boosting trade ties with Iran, IRNA reported on Thursday.

In a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Japan Morteza Rahmani Movahed, Nakanishi underlined the significant role of Iran for Japan both in economy and energy sectors and called the Middle-East country a respectable one due to its rich culture and old history.

The Iranian ambassador for his part, referred to the two countries’ warm relations during the recent years and named Keidanren a good opportunity for expansion of bilateral ties between Iran and Japan.

He also underscored Iran’s capabilities in the region and its important role in supplying energy to the world and expressed the country’s tendency for continuing ties with the Japanese business federation.

Japan Business Federation is an economic organization founded in May 2002. The federation is commonly referred to as "Keidanren", its 1,601 members consist of 1,281 companies, 129 industrial associations, and 47 regional economic organizations (as of June 15, 2010). The mission of the Keidanren is to accelerate growth of Japan's and world economy and to strengthen the corporations to create additional value to transform Japanese economy into one that is sustainable and driven by the private sector, by encouraging the idea of individuals and local communities.

Following the renewal of the United States' first phase of Iran sanctions, Japan stood among the countries who announced their willingness to continue ties with Iran.

Japan’s Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said earlier in mid-August that his country would continue to negotiate with the U.S. for an exemption to sanctions on Iranian oil imports.
The U.S. has asked Japan and other countries to end imports of crude oil from Iran by November.

Seko told reporters that Japan informed the U.S. of its basic position to prevent any negative impact on energy supply and Japanese business activities.

HJ/MA