TEHRAN – The Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce hosted a Joint Economic and Trade Conference for the Iranian and Iraqi chambers of commerce on Monday, in which the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for establishing an arbitration center for resolving business conflicts.

The conference was attended by senior officials from the two sides including Head of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce Abdul Razzaq al- Zuhairi and Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e-Eshaq, and Head of the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Committee Mohammadreza Pour-Ebrahimi were also among the attendees to this conference.

During the event, Zuhairi pointed to the close cultural ties between the two countries and noted that familiarity and having 1,400 kilometers of shared borders can greatly support the development of the two countries’ economic relations based on common interests.

“Iraq's annual trade is a large figure, of which we hope Iran will have a big share,” the official stressed.

He further expressed satisfaction with the signing of the mentioned MOU, saying: “We are very pleased to sign a joint memorandum to reduce barriers to economic cooperation between the two countries. The aim is to reduce the problems in the way of the activities of the two countries’ businessmen by establishing a joint arbitration panel.”

“It is natural to have disputes in trade and we are expected to make a significant contribution to the development of economic relations by establishing this joint arbitration panel,” he added.

Elsewhere in this gathering, Shafeie delivered a speech, saying: “We have come together in this conference to use the existing opportunities to develop economic relations for a better future. I need to thank Mr. Abdul Razzaq as well as the Iranian ambassador to Iraq for their coordination in this regard.”

He pointed to the presence of the head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber, along with the managers of a number of specialized commissions, economic organizations, and private sector companies active in the fields of technology and engineering services, oil, gas and petrochemical, construction, agriculture, home appliances, metal structures, steel, and polyethylene pipes, transportation and food industries in the conference, saying: “Hopefully, the talks will yield fruitful results for the two countries' private sectors.”

Headed by Shafeie, the Iranian trade delegation had arrived in Najaf in central Iraq on Monday and attended a meeting with the representatives of the Iraqi Federation of Industries in order to discuss ways of removing obstacles in the way of expanding mutual trade.

EF/MA

Photo: ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie (L) and Head of Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce Abdul Razzaq al- Zuhairi exchange signed MOU documents in Iraq on Monday