TEHRAN –Heads of Iran’s joint chambers of commerce with Oceanian countries met with First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri to discuss issues and ways of boosting trade with the mentioned countries, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by senior government officials as well as representatives of the private sector including the ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie and the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Director General of Economic Diplomacy Rasoul Mohajer.

During the meeting, the private sector representatives talked about their concerns and the problems and challenges that the traders are currently facing, and made some suggestions to improve the conditions and develop trade and economic relations with the target countries in Oceania.

The officials attending the meeting also underlined the significant role of the private sector in the country’s economy and called for necessary measures to be taken by the government for removing the obstacles facing the private sector traders.

Shafeie for his part, emphasized the importance of joining regional and international treaties like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for the country’s trade and called for a detailed study of this agreement by the government to be simulated and implemented in Iran as a detailed case study.

RCEP is a free trade agreement initiated by Indonesia, between the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“The main objectives of this agreement are the gradual elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers in foreign trade, as well as the gradual elimination of restrictions and discriminatory regulations in the field of services trade to create a free, facilitating and competitive investment environment in the mentioned region,” Shafeie explained.

Jahangiri, in his speech, referred to his several meetings with the heads of joint chambers of commerce, and said: "The most important message of these meetings is that foreign trade and developing exports and imports should be among the government’s priorities."

“The joint chambers of commerce are in fact the main representatives of the country’s private sector, and it is necessary to always have a careful analysis of the obstacles facing the economic activity in the target countries as well as within the country,” he stressed.

EF/MA