TEHRAN – The fourth meeting of the Iran-Hungary Joint Economic Committee was held in Tehran on Thursday at the end of which the two sides signed a comprehensive cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Co-chaired by Iran’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, the committee meeting was attended by senior officials and economic operators from both sides.

The two sides also inked four other MOUs to expand economic cooperation in various areas, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported.

Expanding banking ties a must for developing Iran-Hungary relations

Speaking at the meeting, Khandouzi said expansion of banking and insurance relations as settlement tools of two countries is necessary for developing the level of commercial relations.

“We ask the Hungarian government to help the private sector operators of the two countries have more support in this regard,” he said.

The official noted that the signing of cooperation documents and memorandums of understanding provides a good opportunity for businessmen and the private sectors of the two countries to expand ties.

“Our duty is to support private sector companies. We expect that the authorities of the two countries will provide the basis for strengthening the relations between the private sectors of Iran and Hungary by examining and resolving the existing problems and challenges,” Khandouzi said.

“It is with the participation of the private sector that we can achieve the desired goals of the governments of Iran and Hungary regarding commercial interactions,” he added.

Hungary to issue over 5,000 transportation permits for Iranian companies

Szijjarto for his part emphasized the determination of the two countries to develop the level of bilateral trade cooperation, and said: “Although international sanctions limit cooperation, we should try to be more effective in the fields that are not limited by the sanctions.”

Stating that Hungary is willing to cooperate more with Iran in the field of agriculture and food industry, he added: “Hungary will issue 5,300 transportation licenses to Iranian companies every year to facilitate the transfer of goods between the two countries.”

TPO fully supports Iranian and foreign companies’ co-op

Elsewhere in the event, Ahmad Firouzi, director of the European and American office of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), said that there are various mechanisms in the TPO to help the development of foreign trade, most of which are available to Iranian and foreign private sector companies.

“Dispatching and deploying Iranian business advisors in other countries is one of our priorities. The number of our commercial attaches in the 13th government has increased many times before. In the coming months, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran's commercial attaché will also be settled in Budapest,” he said.

He suggested that the face-to-face and online meetings of the specialized committees of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee should continue to achieve the set goals, and said: “We ask the ICCIMA to monitor the results of today's business meetings between Iran and Hungary so that if there is a challenge, bring it to the notice of the Trade Promotion Organization. These obstacles will be resolved as soon as possible.”

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Photo: Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi (R) and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto pose with signed MOU documents in Tehran on Thursday.