TEHRAN- During a meeting between Iranian and Qatari transport ministers in Tehran on Tuesday, the two sides emphasized the necessity for the expansion of relations between the two countries in sea and air transportation as well as international transit.

In this meeting, Iran’s Transport Minister Rostam Qasemi emphasized the existence of many cooperation opportunities for Iran and Qatar, and stressed the establishment of a joint office between the two countries for cooperation in the field of transportation.

Qatar’s Minister of Transport Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, for his part, stated that the relations between the two countries are deep, and considered the creation of a joint office proposed by the Iranian minister as necessary for the development of these relations.

Back on June 6, Iran and Qatar inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the end of the two countries’ eighth Joint Economic Committee meeting in Doha to outline avenues for future cooperation.

The MOU was signed by Iranian Energy Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian and Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Qassim Al-Thani who co-chaired the committee meeting.

This memorandum determines the framework of cooperation in various fields including transit, transportation, industry and trade, energy, customs and free zones, tourism, culture, agriculture, sports, etc.

Speaking at the eighth meeting of the Iran-Qatar Joint Economic Committee, Mehrabian emphasized the Iranian government's approach to developing international relations and said: "Considering our good relations in the past, this meeting should be a new chapter in the development of cooperation between the two countries."

“We hope to see a significant increase in interactions with the agreements reached in this meeting,” he added.

"One of the most important goals of the meeting is to support the Iranian and Qatari private sectors, and we are happy to see that a large conference with the participation of Iranian businessmen is being held in Doha at the same time as the meeting of the joint committee," Mehrabian said.

According to the official, eight MOUs on food, medical industry, knowledge-based companies, etc. were also signed between businessmen of the two countries on the sidelines of the mentioned meeting.

The Iranian energy minister noted that Iran and Qatar have set financial goals for 2023 and hope to see doubled economic relations and trade balance between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Head of Iran Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Alireza Peyman-Pak has said his organization will fully support both Iranian and Qatari businessmen to facilitate their trade exchanges.

“Once the relationship between the two countries' traders is established, the organization will make every effort to support the continuation of these collaborations,” Peyman-Pak said in mid-June.

The TPO head further expressed dissatisfaction with the current level of economic relations between the two countries and said: “Despite close political relations with Iran, Qatar has a very low share in trade with the Islamic Republic, and if we look at the trade balance between the two countries, the figure is very low and insignificant.”

The traders of the two countries must be acquainted with each other's capacities in order to form a constructive trade relationship, and the TPO also supports and provides the requirements in this regard including logistics, customs, monetary, financial, and banking facilities.

MA/MA

Photo: Iran’s Minister of Transport Rostam Qasemi (L) and Qatar’s Minister of Transport Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti in Tehran on Tuesday