TEHRAN – Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture on Saturday hosted the first Iran-Mauritius business forum which was attended by senior officials and private sector representatives from the two sides.

As reported by the ICCIMA portal, the forum was attended by a high-ranking trade delegation from Mauritius that traveled to Iran to explore ways of expanding trade relations between the two countries.

ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, Head of Iran-East Africa Joint Chamber of Commerce Masoud Berahman, ICCIMA Secretary General Mojtaba Modareszadeh, Secretary-General of Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Yousouf Ismael, and the country’s deputy foreign affairs minister were among the attendees of the mentioned forum.

In this gathering, the two sides discussed ways of developing economic cooperation between the two countries and examined the existing obstacles.

At the end of the forum, a cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between ICCIMA and MCCI.

Speaking at the event, Shafeie emphasized that the Iranian government and private sector have always placed special importance on the expansion of economic relations with African countries and stated: “We are determined to pave the way for the businessmen of our country to reach the African markets.”

He described the prominent position of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean Rim Association as one of the important capacities of this country and continued: “This can lead to the development of Iran's cooperation with Mauritius and other member countries of this union.”

“Iran's privileged, strategic and geopolitical position in the West Asian region and the country’s access to the region’s 400-million market will definitely be a good opportunity for Mauritius’ businessmen and trade companies,” he added.

Pointing out that Mauritius is known as the economic gateway of the African continent, the ICCIMA head continued: “Tourism, banking and insurance services and maritime transport are among the most important potentials for cooperation between the two countries. Mauritius buys more than one billion dollars of fuel and oil products every year, which will provide another basis for the development of relations between the two countries.”

Elsewhere in this gathering, Ismael enumerated some of the advantages of trade with Mauritius and said: “We can be a suitable facilitator for Iranian businessmen to develop their trade with African countries.”

He further mentioned the unsatisfactory level of trade between the two countries and said: “We want to change this trend and therefore we have traveled to Iran with one of the largest business delegations.”

Mauritius’ FTA with China, India to facilitate trade with Iran

Prior to the business forum, Shafeie met with Mauritius’ Minister of Labor, Human Resource Development and Training Soodesh Satkam Callichurn to discuss mutual economic cooperation between the two countries.

In this meeting, the official suggested that Mauritius’ free trade agreement (FTA) with China and India should be considered as the basis to draw a roadmap for the expansion of trade with Iran.

According to Shafeie, Iran can benefit from the opportunities that this FTA could present for the businessmen of the both sides.

He further stressed the importance of exchanging information about the commercial capacities of the two countries between their private sectors.

Development of agricultural cooperation

Later, On Sunday, the trade delegation attended a meeting with the members of the ICCIMA Agriculture Committee, in which the two sides discussed joint cooperation and investment in the agriculture sector as the most important capacity in Mauritius.

In this meeting, Mohsen Amini, Chairman of the ICCIMA Agriculture Committee referred to Iran as a land of opportunities, especially in the field of agriculture, and said: “Joint investment and commercial cooperation in the agriculture sector should be considered by both countries. In this regard, Iran is offering good incentives.”

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Photo: ICCIMA Secretary-General Mojtaba Modareszadeh (R) and MCCI Secretary-General Yousouf Ismael sign MOU documents in Tehran on Saturday.