TEHRAN – Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) and the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Saturday addressing issues regarding long-term cooperation.

The MOU was signed during an Iran-Syria business forum which was held for the first time after over a decade hiatus due to war in the Arab country.
The event was attended by senior officials and businessmen from both sides, including TCCIMA Head Masoud Khansari, Mahmoud Hamsho, the secretary general of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, Hassan Danaiefar, the senior advisor to Iran’s first vice president in Syria and Iraq affairs, Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Adnan Mahmoud and Iran’s Ambassador to Damascus Javad Torkabadi.
Signing the MOU the two sides stressed all-out cooperation for development of economic ties and facilitating trade for the two countries’ businessmen and companies.
Bilateral trade low despite high political ties
Addressing the forum, TCCIMA Head Masoud Khansari mentioned the good political relations between the two countries and criticized the mismatch between the level of economic ties and political ones.
He called for both sides taking necessary measures in order to fill this gap and escalate the two countries trade ties to the levels of political partnership.
He further voiced Iranian companies and private sector’s readiness for cooperation with their Syrian counterparts in reconstruction of Syria noting that Iran is going to have a significant role in Syria’s future markets.
Khansari also underlined the strategic and geographical situation of Syria stressing the fact that Syria could be used as a hub for exporting Iranian goods to other countries.
Implementing previous agreements
In another part of the event, the secretary general of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce expressed his country’s gratitude and satisfaction with the Islamic Republic’s all-out support and called for further expansion of ties in a variety of areas especially in economic fields.
Mahmoud Hamsho emphasized the need for implementing the previously signed economic agreements between the two sides, reassuring Iranian traders of his country’s full support for their activities in Syria.
“We will take all necessary measures to remove any probable issues and barriers in the way of trade between the two countries and to facilitate trade for the two sides’ businessmen”, Hamsho said.
Emphasizing Khansari’s remarks on the mismatch between political and economic relations, Hamsho also stressed the need for increasing the estimated $150-milion trade turnover between the two countries to much higher levels in the future.
The official mentioned creating joint ventures, establishing Iran-Syria joint chamber of commerce and holding exhibitions and exchanging economic delegations as ways of improving the economic ties between the two countries.
He further called for facilitation of customs affairs for Syrian goods in order to accelerate the process of exchanging commodities and goods between the two countries.
A roadmap for future co-op
At the end of the event, Hassan Danaiefar, the senior advisor to Iran’s first vice president in Syria and Iraq affairs, underlined the need for drawing a roadmap for addressing issues and problems in the way of trade between the two countries, saying that “there are many areas for economic cooperation like air and road transport, aviation, insurance, agriculture, industry and etc.”
He voiced Iran’s readiness for mutual cooperation in all such fields suggesting to use the two countries’ national currencies in trade.
Danaiefar further mentioned establishing joint banks and joint ventures as well as the Iran-Syria joint chamber of commerce as steps which should be taken in order to reach a desired trade level.
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PHOTO: Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Masoud Khansari (L) and Mahmoud Hamsho, the secretary general of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce attending the Iran-Syria business forum in Tehran on Saturday