TEHRAN – The first Iran-Germany Joint Energy Committee meeting was held in Tehran on Tuesday, Shana reported.

Addressing the meeting, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs and Trading Amir Hossein Zamaninia touched upon the two countries’ long history of cooperation and said Iran and Germany have great potentials for mutual cooperation in various areas especially in energy.

The official put Iran-Germany trade turnover at $3 billion and said: “Considering the potentials, unfortunately the value of trade between the two countries is much lower than expected and we hope that signing new deals pushes the figure up.”

German Ambassador to Iran Michael Klor-Berchtold, for his part, mentioned the meeting as an example of the close cooperation between the two countries saying, “It is one of the outcomes of the Joint German-Iranian Economic Committee meeting which was held here in Tehran about one year ago for the first time in 15 years.”

The ambassador also singled out two German-Iranian solar farm projects in Iranian western province of Hamedan which were implemented in cooperation with the Renewable Energy Organization of Iran, known as SUNA, at an estimated cost of $17 million.

EF/MA

PHOTO: Iranian Deputy Oil Minister in International Affairs and Trading Amir Hossein Zamaninia (L) and German Ambassador to Iran Michael Klor-Berchtold at the first Iran-Germany Joint Energy Committee meeting in Tehran on Tuesday