TEHRAN – Head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation has expressed the chamber’s willingness for the expansion of ties with the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA).

As reported by the ICCIMA portal, Sergey Katyrin has sent a congratulatory message to the newly elected ICCIMA Head Hossein Selahvarzi, emphasizing the commitment of the Russian chamber to cooperate with the Iranian side to strengthen bilateral interactions.

“Considering the significant potential for the development of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Iran, I look forward to further strengthening the interaction between our organizations for the benefit of the business operators of our countries,” Katyrin said in his message.

In a meeting between the board members of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce and Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexey Dedov the two sides explored ways of facilitating mutual business exchanges.

During the meeting which was held at the place of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture last week, the board members of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce called on the Russian side to ease the conditions for issuing business visas for Iranian traders and to make the process of issuing certificates of origin online.

Speaking at the meeting, Hadi Tizhoush-Taban, the head of the Iran-Russia joint chamber of commerce, emphasized using the capacity of the Iranian Trade Center in Astrakhan and referred to it as a suitable platform to establish communication between interested Iranian and Russian business units to cooperate with each other.

He underlined the need for facilitating the process of issuing visas for Iranian businessmen by the Russian government, saying: “It is necessary to provide conditions so that the businessmen and economic operators of both sides can benefit from the two countries' trade capacities.”

Elsewhere in the gathering, Deputy Head of the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce Abdollah Mohajer pointed to the good political relations between the two countries and said: “Despite the strong political relations between the two countries, we have not been able to use the capacities in the economic sector and strengthen the level of relations in line with the political ties.”

He further informed about the interest in the northern provinces of Iran to increase the level of business relations with different cities of Russia and said: “Russian ambassador, as a representative of the government of this country, can take serious steps in order to improve business relations and joint investment.”

Dedov for his part talked about the efforts that are being made by the Russian government to remove the obstacles facing the commercial relations between the two countries and expressed hope that continuous meetings should be held to achieve this goal.

Meanwhile, last month, Director General of Russia’s EXPOCENTRE Alexey Vyalkin announced that the number of Iranian companies attending business and trade exhibitions in Moscow has doubled during the first five months of 2023 compared to the same period last year.

He said the increased presence of Iranian firms in Russia’s business fairs indicates a willingness to expand trade ties with the country.

Vyalkin made the comments in a preparatory meeting ahead of the second edition of the Tehran- Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) exhibition.

He underlined that Iran and Russia have exchanged some important trade delegations this year to upgrade the level of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Back in late January, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s State Duma, said that the share of the ruble and the rial in mutual settlements between Iran and Russia exceeds 60 percent.

As reported by Russia Today, making the remarks in a government meeting, Volodin said, “It is important to use settlements in national currencies more actively. Much has already been done in this regard – now the share of the ruble and the rial in mutual settlements exceeds 60 percent. The work on the joint application of national payment systems is being completed. This will minimize the impact of sanctions, but also, of course, address issues related to mutually beneficial cooperation,”

According to Volodin, both countries should now focus on boosting the efficiency of mutual cooperation in the financial and banking sectors, in particular, by increasing the use of national currencies in their trade exchanges, using the Russian ‘Mir’ and Iranian ‘Shetab’ payment systems.

The Russian official further announced that trade between Iran and Russia surged by 15 percent in 2022, reaching $4.6 billion.

Volodin noted that the two countries are actively taking steps to build up mutual trade, saying: “extremely important in the conditions of sanctions pressure on our countries.”

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Photo: ICCIMA Head Hossein Selahvarzi (L) and Head of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Sergey Katyrin