TEHRAN - Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Masoud Karbasian in separate meetings with his Italian, Indian, and Afghan counterparts discussed ways for boosting bilateral ties.

The meetings were held on the sidelines of the 2017 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, Shada reported on Saturday.

In his meeting with the Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, Karbasian noted that in comparison with the same time in 2016, the Iran-Italy trade has tripled during the first half of the current year.

Padoan, for his part, underscored his country’s tendency for increasing bilateral economic ties with Iran and voiced Italian companies’ readiness for cooperating with their Iranian counterparts. 

In a meeting with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Karbasian announced Iranian Finance Ministry’s readiness for holding Iran-India Joint Economic Committee’s meeting in Tehran in 2018.

Jaitley welcomed expansion of economic ties with Iran and underscored the vitality of improving banking cooperation between the two sides. 

The Iranian minister also had a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, where both sides underlined the significant role of Iran and Afghanistan in the region and called for removal of obstacles on the way to tighten mutual economic cooperation in various economic sectors specifically transportation and railroads. 

The annual meetings of the boards of governors of WBG and IMF bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness. Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world's financial system. 

This year's events are taking place in Washington, DC on October 9-15. 

HJ/MA

PHOTO: Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Masoud Karbasian (L) and Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan