TEHRAN - A high-ranking trade delegation from Germany has visited Iran to hold talks with government officials and business executives and to explore opportunities for cooperation.

The delegation, led by Chairman of the Board of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade (BWA) Michael Schumann, met with Head of Iran Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization (ISIPO) Ali Rasoulian on Monday and discussed cooperation between the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the two countries.

In this meeting, Schumann voiced his organization’s readiness to promote and facilitate economic relations with Iran, especially in the field of small and medium-sized businesses, saying that BWA will take all the necessary measures to support German SMEs investment in Iran’s industrial parks.

Emphasizing the necessity of connecting the SMEs of Iran and Germany to promote economic relations between the two countries, Rasoulian for his part, said that the establishment of a technology exchange center between German and Iranian companies can also be very fruitful in order to promote economic cooperation.

He expressed hope for the expansion of trade exchanges between the two countries, adding: “Many production units in Iran need technological development and up-to-date machinery, and German companies can cooperate with us in this field.”

PGPIC welcomes co-op with German companies

On the same day, the German delegates paid a visit to the office of Iran’s largest petrochemical company Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) in Tehran and held talks with PGPIC’s senior officials including the company’s Managing Director Abdolali Ali-Asgari.

In this meeting, Ali-Asgari briefed the German officials about the PGPIC, saying: “As the second largest petrochemical company in West Asia, PGPIC currently has 20 projects worth $15 billion underway across Iran.”

He further noted that Iran expects German suppliers to fulfill their obligations regarding the delivery of machinery and equipment to the Iranian petrochemical plants based on deals signed before the imposition of the U.S. sanctions in 2018.

“Those companies should know that if they do not deliver the equipment, it will eventually harm them because we will achieve the knowledge for domestic production of those machineries,” the official said.

Schumann in his turn said that exploring investment and technology transfer in the Iranian petrochemical sector has been among the main goals of the German delegation’s visit to Iran.

Iran welcomes exchanging trade delegations with Germany

The German delegation also attended a meeting with Head of Iran Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Alireza Peyman-Pak on Monday, in which the official expressed willingness for exchanging trade delegations and to organize B2B meetings between the company representatives of the two sides.

The meeting was also attended by Iran’s Ambassador to Germany Mahmoud Farazandeh.

Speaking at this gathering, Peyman-Pak noted that the countries must separate business from political issues, saying: “The experience of cooperation with other countries shows that business relations can be expanded regardless of the political points of view.”

The German side also confirmed these remarks and stated that the expansion of political relations will lead to the closeness of interests and finally the closeness of people to each other and will lead to positive results.

EF/MA