TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Hamid Zadboum met with Japan’s Ambassador to Tehran Aikawa Kazutoshi to discuss expansion of economic ties between the two countries, Mehr News Agency reported.

In this meeting, Zadboum expressed the Iranian private sector’s readiness for cooperation with their Japanese counterparts in various areas like petrochemicals, oil, mining, and agriculture.

Referring to the declining trend of bilateral trade exchanges between the two countries, Zadboum noted that the reason for this fall could be the shift in Iran’s foreign trade policies which has resulted in more focus on neighboring countries.

“This has caused the share of trade with these countries [the neighbors] to reach 60 percent [of the total non-oil trade],” the official said.

The official noted that Iran is going to expand its trade relations with other countries as well, saying: “Despite sanctions and communication problems caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Iranian markets are expanding in the Far East, Africa, and Latin America."

He also mentioned a recent visit of a Japanese trade delegation to Iran’s southeastern port of Chabahar and invited the ambassador to visit this port as soon as possible.

Zadboum stated that Oman, India, and Pakistan have invested in Chabahar port and are interested in developing their investments.

“Japanese companies can also be present and invest in this region along with other foreign investors," he added.

The official further referred to the holding of more than 80 specialized exhibitions at Tehran Permanent International Fairground every year and invited Japanese companies to participate in these exhibitions.

Kazutoshi for his part underlined economy and trade as key players in cementing relations between the two countries and praised the role of TPO and its Japanese counterpart Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in strengthening and developing mutual economic and trade relations.

The head of JETRO office in Tehran also accompanied Kazutoshi in this meeting.

EF/MA