TEHRAN – Officials and private sector representatives of Iran and Armenia have discussed ways of increasing economic cooperation including the establishment of a joint free trade zone in Armenia, the portal of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) reported.

An Iranian business delegation, which is in Armenia to attend the Eurasian Economic Forum, attended a meeting with the directors of Mantashyants Business Club which is Armenia’s largest international business club to explore avenues of cooperation.

During the meeting, Iranian and Armenian economic operators and business persons discussed the fields of cooperation while introducing their fields of activity.

Speaking at the gathering, the chairman of the board of directors of Mantashyants Club, pointed out that this group is the largest business complex in Armenia, which has 650 members from 18 different countries around the world.

“We have close cooperation with the Iranian Embassy in Armenia and we hope that the level of our interactions with the Tehran Chamber of Commerce will also improve,” Vahram Mirakyan said.

Mirakian further spoke about the readiness of this group to introduce partner companies to Iranian economic operators in Armenia. He considered the development of trade with Iran to be important and expressed hope that these exchanges would increase the volume of commercial transactions between the two countries.

Elsewhere in the meeting, TCCIMA Head Mahmoud Najafi Arab mentioned the high capacity and ability of the members of the Iranian trade delegation present in Armenia and other members of the TCCIMA and said: “Some MPs are also present in the business delegation sent to Armenia by the Tehran Chamber, and this shows the importance of developing the country's trade exchanges with Armenia.”

He also underlined the importance of exchanging business delegations to improve the level of economic relations between the two countries and invited the Armenian side to visit Iran to continue the talks.

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Photo: TCCIMA Head Mahmoud Najafi Arab (L) and Chairman of the board of directors of Mantashyants Business Club Vahram Mirakyan speak at a gathering of Iranian and Armenian business people in Yerevan.