TEHRAN- The Iran-Brazil Joint Chamber of Commerce will be opened in Tehran on July 9, Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Chairman Gholam-Hossein Shafeie announced.

According to the ICCIMA’s portal, the official made the announcement in a meeting with Brazilian Ambassador to Tehran Rodrigo de Azeredo Santos.

During the meeting Shafeie mentioned the lack of a joint chamber of commerce as a hurdle in the way of the two countries’ trade expansion saying “With the joint chamber opened this barrier is going to be removed from the path to a greater economic cooperation.”

“Iran and Brazil have a long history in economic cooperation which goes back to 100 years,” he added.

The Iranian official also emphasized some of the main issues in bilateral trade including facilitation of visa issuance, exchanging trade delegations and facilitation of banking relations between the two sides.

Santos for his part mentioned Iran-Brazil’s trade turnover saying although there are great potentials for exports from Iran to Brazil, the trade between the two countries is tipped in favor of Brazil.

The ambassador further noted that many of Brazilian banks are eager to cooperate with Iranian banks but having ties with American banks makes it difficult for them to go through with it. “But they are making good efforts to make it happen,” he said.

EF/MA