TEHRAN – Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce. Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has said resolving the problems related to the transportation of goods through third countries is the prerequisite for the development of Iran-Russia economic relations.

Gholam-Hossein Shafeie made the remarks in a meeting with Vladimir Obydenov, chairman of the Russian-Iranian Business Council (RIDS) on Tuesday, the ICCIMA portal reported.

“To send their goods to Russia, Iranian traders have to pass through third countries, which always cause hardships for them,” Shafeie said.

During this meeting, the official also emphasized the need to establish a joint chamber of commerce with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states.

He pointed to the lack of necessary infrastructure, especially in the transportation sector, and called for cooperation between the two countries to remove existing restrictions on trade and investment between Iran and Russia.

The ICCIMA head further underlined the comprehensive relationship between the two countries in recent years and said: "To achieve the goals defined in the two countries’ comprehensive cooperation plan, we need to resolve some infrastructure issues and the first point is to solve problems related to transportation.”

Regarding the maritime transport of exported goods, he pointed to Iran's inadequate port infrastructure and called the unavailability of Ro-Ro ships a serious weakness in trade relations between the two countries.

According to Shafeie, today the two countries face many problems not only in the maritime field but also in the rail and road transportation sectors, including the low speed of rail transportation and the increase in the cost of goods.

Further in the meeting, Obydenov for his part noted that economic relations between the two countries are following an upward trend.

He pointed to the establishment of a center in Russia to provide trade and legal services to the two countries' businessmen and, in some cases, support them financially.

This center will try to establish the necessary communication between the two countries’ traders by introducing them to each other, he said.

EF/MA

Photo: ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie (R) and RIDS Chairman Vladimir Obydenov meet in Tehran on Tuesday