TEHRAN - Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian and Qatar’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, who are the chairs of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee, held online talks on Tuesday and expressed hope that the next meeting of the committee will be held in Doha in near future.

As Tasnim news agency reported, during the online meeting, the two sides discussed various issues including industrial cooperation, tourism, sports, and other mutual interests, and called for taking necessary measures to develop and accelerate cooperation between the two countries.

The officials also stressed the need to hold a committee to follow up on the implementation of the agreements reached during the seventh session of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee.

Iran and Qatar signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in a variety of areas at the end of the two countries’ seventh Joint Economic Committee meeting which was held in Isfahan in late November 2020.

Based on this MOU, the two sides agreed to cooperate in forming a joint trade working group between the two countries, establishing trade centers between the private sectors of the two sides, establishing commercial affiliates in the embassies of the two countries in Tehran and Doha, and using the ports of the two countries to boost the export and import of goods.

The event which was attended by Ardakanian and Al Kuwari as the chairs of the committee was the first meeting of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee held after the coronavirus pandemic in Iran.

Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafei, the Qatari ambassador to Tehran Mohammed Ben Hamad Al-Hajri, Chairman of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalifa Bin Jassim Al-Thani, as well as the representatives from the Iranian ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Industry also attended the meeting.

Cooperation between the two countries’ chambers of commerce to encourage the private sectors of the two sides for joint ventures, the development of cooperation in the fields of agriculture, electricity, water and wastewater and gas, cooperation in the field of cultural heritage, handicrafts, and tourism, including holding a cultural week in Isfahan, were among other provisions of the mentioned MOU.

The MOU also covered cooperation in the fields of pharmaceutical and medical equipment, higher education and scientific research, transit and transportation of goods, communications and information technology, as well as protection and maintenance of fiber optic cables (submarine).

EF/MA