TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) who traveled to Russia during June 15-17, to attend the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, held talks with senior Russian officials on the sidelines of the mentioned event.

During his three-day stay in St. Petersburg, Alireza Peyman-Pak met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, the country’s Minister of Construction and Housing Irek Faizullin, Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Andrey Slepnev, as well as, Maxim Sokolov, former transport minister and head of the country’s major automobile company Avtovaz.

Completing Iran’s Rasht-Astara railway

In the meeting with Overchuk, the Russian official expressed his country’s readiness for completing the Rasht-Astara railway in Iran in order to develop the north-south corridor.

“Russia is ready to build the 162-kilometer-long Rasht-Astara railway for Iran,” he said.

Peyman-Pak for his part emphasized Russia's role in modernizing Iran's rail transport and shipping fleet in the Caspian Sea, as well as renovating the country’s road fleet.

He suggested that Iran should join the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as an observer member.

Monetary issues, formation of a joint production working group, supply of industrial parts to Russian factories by Iranian manufacturers, and creation of joint free zones in the north and south of Iran were also among the subjects discussed in this meeting.

Importing construction materials from Iran

The TPO head also met with Russia’s Construction and Housing Minister Irek Faizullin and discussed potential areas for cooperation between the two countries.

In this meeting, Faizullin expressed Russia’s willingness for importing construction materials from Iran. He also noted that his country is also considering the imports of power plant turbines from the Islamic Republic.

Signing a free trade agreement with EAEU by yearend

Attending an Iran-Russia business forum in St. Petersburg, Peyman-Pak stressed Iran’s readiness for signing a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) by the end of the current year.

He also pointed to the holding of joint specialized exhibitions as an important measure that will lead to the development of trade relations between Iran and Russia and stressed the need for removing obstacles to monetary, banking, and trade exchanges.

“Both countries are facing harsh sanctions that have targeted the monetary and banking systems in the first place. The Islamic Republic of Iran has gained good experience through its long struggle against sanctions and has designed various ways to combat these sanctions,” he said.

He proposed the formation of joint transport companies and joint ventures to renovate and modernize Iran’s road, rail, and sea transport fleet, as well as accelerate the joint completion of the Rasht-Astara railway, which was welcomed by the Russian side.

The TPO head also attended a meeting with Andrey Slepnev, the minister in charge of trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), in which he emphasized Iran’s complete readiness for the signing of a free trade agreement with the EAEU.

Peyman-Pak suggested that in addition to the cooperation between Iran's free industrial zones and the industrial parks of the EAEU member countries, the two sides should begin working on joint production of industrial goods.

EF/MA

Photo: TPO Head Alireza Peyman-Pak (4th R)