TEHRAN – Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) held an online meeting on Saturday to explore investment and trade opportunities in Croatia, the ICCIMA portal reported.

The meeting was attended by the Iranian Ambassador to Zagreb Parviz Esmaili, the ICCIMA Deputy Head for International Affairs Mohammad-Reza Karbasi, and representatives of provincial chambers of commerce as well as a number of businessmen interested in doing business in Croatia.

During the meeting, the capabilities and needs of each province were discussed, and accordingly, the existing capacities in Croatia, about which there is a possibility of joint investment and economic cooperation were also explored.

In this regard, Karbasi underlined establishing direct flights between the two countries, expansion of joint cooperation in the field of health tourism, and signing of sisterhood agreements between different provinces of the two countries as measures that could be taken for boosting mutual trade relations.

He also expressed ICCIMA’s readiness and willingness to implement a barter trade management in collaboration with Iranian specialized parent companies and called on the Iranian Embassy in Zagreb to list Croatian companies wishing to barter goods and services with Iran.

Referring to the high capacities in Iran and the Balkan region, as well as the importance of increasing Iran-Croatia trade interactions, the official underlined the need for using the potentials of the provincial chambers and the Iranian embassy in Croatia to strengthen cooperation in various fields.

He further suggested specialized meetings be held in various fields in cooperation with the Iranian Embassy in Croatia.

Karbasi stressed the need for establishing a joint Iran-Croatia Trade Committee under the supervision of the two countries' chambers of commerce based on a memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides.

Elsewhere in the meeting, Esmaili described the capacities and potential areas in which the two countries can work together.

According to him, Croatia has the most advanced economy in the Balkans after Slovenia and is scheduled to join the Eurozone in 2023.

EF/MA