TEHRAN- During a meeting between Hojatollah Abdolmaleki, the secretary of Iran’s Free Zones High Council, and Ahmad Al-Sayed, the minister of state and chairman of the board of directors of the Free Zones Authority in Qatar, the Qatari side expressed his country’s willingness to expand economic ties with Iran.

Al-Sayed presented a history of the creation of free zones in Qatar and said that on behalf of the Emir of Qatar, they have a mission to develop trade with Iran, the Iranian Free Zones News Agency (Freena) reported.

He said the capacity of free trade and special economic zones is of special importance for the development of commercial relations between the parties.

In this meeting, the secretary of Iran’s Free Zones High Council, gave explanations about the activity and position of the free trade and special economic zones of Iran, as well as the effect of these zones on the country's economy.

During his trip to Qatar, Abdolmaleki also met Mohamed Bin Ahmed Twar Al Kuwari, the vice chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of that country.

During the meeting, Al Kuwari announced his country’s readiness to become a hub of re-exporting Iranian products.

The official voiced the readiness of Qatar's private sector to cooperate with Iran, both in providing the country's needs and in re-exporting Iranian products and goods to other countries.

He also announced his country’s readiness to invest in Iran's free zones and it was decided to familiarize Qatari investors and businessmen with the capacities of Iran's free zones.

Last week, during a meeting between the governors of the central banks of Iran and Qatar, in Doha, the two sides discussed the strategies for developing financial and banking relations between the two countries.

In the meeting between Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Mohammad-Reza Farzin and Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani, necessary agreements were made regarding the start of banking operations in order to use the foreign currency resources transferred to six Iranian banks in Qatar.

In the meeting between the two countries’ central bank governors, which was also attended by the deputy governors and general directors of the two banks, the governors of the central banks of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar pointed to the numerous economic capacities and diverse fields of commercial cooperation between Iran and Qatar, and emphasized the need to increase monetary, banking and financial cooperation between the two countries.

MA

Photo: Hojatollah Abdolmaleki (L), the secretary of Iran’s Free Zones High Council, and Ahmad Al-Sayed, the minister of state and chairman of the board of directors of the Free Zones Authority in Qatar