TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said Vietnam has become a new destination for Iranian commodities and Iranian exports to the country are increasing.

Speaking in a meeting with Iran’s new envoy in the Asian country, Hamid Zadboum stressed the importance of this emerging market for the development of Iranian exports in Southeast Asia and mentioned some of the issues that should be pursued by the envoy.

Referring to the TPO’s readiness for providing assistance in informing about the latest business decisions and initiatives in the country, Zadboum emphasized the significant role of his organization as a strong and effective arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s trade abroad.

In this meeting, the officials also discussed the issues regarding the 10th meeting of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee meeting and stressed the need for taking necessary measures to remove obstacles to Iran's exports to Vietnam and to include Iran in the list of countries allowed to export livestock products to Vietnam.

Iran and Vietnam have been considering signing a preferential trade agreement in order to boost the level of trade between the two countries to $2 billion.

Back in January, the mentioned subject, among others, was discussed during an Iran-Vietnam business forum which was held in Tehran.

Facilitating visa issuance for Iranian businessmen by the Vietnamese Embassy in Tehran and setting the stage for signing the preferential trade agreement and reaching a level of up to $2 billion of bilateral trade were the main issues explored by the two countries’ private sector representatives in the forum.

The value of trade between the two countries reached $352 million at the end of the Iranian calendar year of 1397 (March 20, 2019), up over 100 percent from $172 million in the preceding year.

EF/MA