TEHRAN – The head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has called for signing free and preferential trade agreements with Brazil to improve the trade relations between the two countries.

Samad Hassanzadeh made the remarks in a meeting with Vice-President of Brazil Geraldo Alckmin in Tehran on Wednesday, the ICCIMA portal reported.

The ICCIMA head pointed to the lack of free and preferential trade agreements between Iran and Brazil as an obstacle to the development of economic relations between the two countries, saying that the governments of Iran and Brazil should consider measures to solve the monetary and banking problems between the two countries.

“Another obstacle to the development of economic relations between the two countries is the problems of money transfer and banking relations, which the governments of Iran and Brazil must eliminate this problem as soon as possible with their own measures,” he noted.

Referring to the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries for easing the export and import of agricultural products between the two sides, he continued: “Despite the signing of this memorandum, unfortunately it has not been implemented in the last 10 years and the businessmen of both sides have not been able to benefit from it.”

Hassanzadeh further considered the membership of Iran and Brazil in BRICS as a very suitable capacity for the development of economic cooperation between the two countries and said: "Unfortunately, the two countries have not been able to make much use of this opportunity."

Exchanging business delegations between Iran and Brazil can increase the level of economic relations through raising awareness about the potentials and fields of cooperation, he said.

The official invited the head of the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce to visit Iran with a business delegation and said: “Considering Iran's capabilities in the fields of medical and pharmaceutical, renewable energies, oil, gas and petrochemicals, automobile industries, food and agricultural industries, and technical and engineering services, there are suitable fields for joint cooperation.”

In this meeting, Alckmin stated that he has a mission from the President of Brazil to take the necessary measures to strengthen the relations between the two countries as much as possible.

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Photo: ICCIMA Head Samad Hassanzadeh (R) meets Vice-President of Brazil Geraldo Alckmin in Tehran on Wednesday.