LONDON -- The Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) has announced plans to launch a trade delegation visit to Iran next month, the first mission of its kind organized by the publishing group, IRNA reported.

The trade mission to Tehran, being arranged in partnership with International Trade and Investment Missions (ITIM), is to take place on June 16-18. Another mission is being planned to Saudi Arabia in September.

MEED said that meetings in Tehran had been organized with top officials from government agencies, including the National Iranian Oil Company, National Petroleum Company, the Central Bank and government departments in the utilities sector.

"MEED has run major business conferences in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and we have noticed the demand for high-quality networking is growing among our customer," the publisher's Editor-in- Chief Edmund o'Sullivan said.

The trade missions initiative follows MEED joining a partnership association with ITIM, a private firm specializing in organizing top- level international delegations around the world.