TEHRAN – The 18th session of the Headquarters for Coordination of Foreign Economic Ties has been hosted by the foreign ministry under the chairmanship of Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari.

The issue of looking into challenges and opportunities of expanding economic relations with India and strengthening economic ties with the ASEAN and East Asian countries topped the agenda of the talks.

The meeting was attended by members of the headquarters and directors of relevant bodies, according to the ministry.

The participants underlined the importance of India in Iran’s foreign policy. They also discussed areas of cooperation with India while putting an emphasis on the need to expand Chabahar Port. The participants further highlighted the necessity of launching the North-South corridor and stressed the need to improve trade relations between Iran and India and expand ties in the fields of knowledge-based products, IT, and logistics parks.

The participants also held talks about the latest state of economic ties with the ASEAN and East Asian countries.

The attendees highlighted the long-time relations between Iran and East Asian countries in the fields of technology, knowledge-based companies and agriculture. They underscored the necessity of using the existing potentials in ties with East Asian nations as well as the need for smart and active interaction with the ASEAN countries and pursuing the conclusion of basic economic documents with those nations.

Safari has been spearheading Iran’s economic diplomacy over the course of the presidency of Ebrahim Raisi.