TEHRAN – Board of directors of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) and Germany-Iran Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Iran) held talks on Sunday and emphasized the need to increase coordination in order to strengthen trade relations between the two countries.

As reported by the portal of ICCIMA, the event was attended by the officials from both sides including AHK Managing Director Dagmar von Bohnstein, ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie and ICCIMA Deputy Head for International Affairs Mohammad-Reza Karbasi.

Speaking in the meeting, Shafei considered the Germany-Iran Chamber of Commerce to be one of the most important joint chambers of commerce in the country and said “Since its establishment, this chamber has pursued very positive plans for development of trade between the two countries.”

“Germany has long been one of Iran's major trading partners, so if there is an issue in economic relations between the two countries, it must be dealt with as quickly as possible. Iran-Germany trade relations are based on mutual interests and should be kept as such,” he said.

Further in the event, ICCIMA Deputy Head Karbasi noted that the main purpose of the meeting was to coordinate the activities of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and Industry with ICCIMA, adding that “One of the most important demands of the private sector is the establishment of an Iran-Germany joint chamber in accordance with domestic law. A subject that has been raised many times but hasn’t been realized.”

Von Bohnstein for her part expressed he government and the German-Iranian chamber’s support for the two countries’ traders, saying “since the start of the new round of U.S. sanctions on Iran, some German companies have stopped operating in Iran, but the government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Iran and Germany have always been supportive of trade between the two countries.”

She further urged Iranian officials to take necessary measures for supporting the two sides’ private sectors, saying “the level of economic cooperation between Iran and Germany is currently in balance but this balance is not stable. The members of the board of directors of ICCIMA should take necessary measures to maintain and strengthen this balance.”

EF/MA