TEHRAN – Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Abbas Ali-Abadi, and Russian Deputy Industry Minister for Aviation Industry Andrey Boginsky met on Monday to discuss ways of cooperation between the two counties in the aviation sector, Mehr News Agency reported.

Speaking at the meeting, Ali-Abadi said the transportation industry is considered a very important and strategic industry in the world, and in this field, especially the aviation industry, some countries have tried to create a monopoly.

The minister underlined the importance of technological development in the transportation industry as a strategic issue, noting that “Today, Russia and Iran have understood the significance of this issue more than any other country because they bear a lot of political pressure from the countries holding the technology.”

He stated that there have been very good negotiations between Iran and Russia in the aviation industry during the last year, but there is a need to speed up the development of cooperation in this area.

“Over the past year, I had two important meetings with the senior officials of Russia and the two sides have paid several visits to each other’s’ facilities in this industry, after which the basic cooperation between the two countries was supposed to begin,” Ali-Abadi said.

The official further emphasized that Iran and Russia have a high potential for joint economic cooperation in the aviation industry.

Boginsky for his part noted that the implementation of the agreements that are reached during various meetings is an important issue; however, in order to implement some projects, the two sides need to receive approval from the higher officials of the two countries.

He pointed to the establishment of a joint engineering center in Iran and said: “This center should be established with a focus on the production of some specific products whose final production is beneficial for both parties.”

Accompanying a delegation, Buginsky arrived in Tehran on Sunday, and upon arrival, he met with Manouchehr Manteghi, the Iranian Deputy Industry Minister for Transport Industries.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss potential solutions and facilities that could be used to develop cooperation between Iran and Russia for the repair and building of airplanes and helicopters.

In that meeting, it was decided that both parties would sign an official memorandum to develop the required infrastructure for collaboration between Iran and Russia in the repair and construction of airplanes and helicopters.

EF/MA

Photo: Iranian Industry Minister Abbas Ali-Abadi (L) and Russian Deputy Industry Minister for Aviation Industry Andrey Boginsky