TEHRAN – The newly elected Head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Hossein Selahvarzi met with the Ambassador of Bangladesh in Tehran Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury on Tuesday to discuss ways of expanding trade ties between the two countries.

In the meeting, Selahvarzi underlined resolving banking and transportation issues as a prerequisite for boosting the economic exchanges between Iran and Bangladesh, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Referring to the close religious, cultural, and historical relations between Iran and Bangladesh, the ICCIMA head said that despite Bangladesh's great market and Iran's strategic position, the two countries have not been able to use each other's economic capacities well.

He further mentioned some of the potential areas for cooperation between Iran and Bangladesh, saying: “Cooperation in the fields of construction materials, minerals, agricultural products, industrial items, and petrochemical products can lead to the development of trade relations between the two countries.”

Selahvarzi pointed to the need for the formation of a joint committee between the businessmen of the two countries as one of the necessary measures for increasing the trade exchanges between Iran and Bangladesh and added: “Within the next two months, an Iran-Bangladesh Joint Economic Committee will be formed in Iran and we hope that the corresponding institution in Bangladesh will also be established soon.”

Stating that Iran and Bangladesh are members of a number of multilateral economic organizations including the D8, Selahvarzi emphasized the necessity of using this capacity and said: “Iran Chamber of Commerce will make the necessary arrangements with Bangladesh Chamber [of Commerce] for the exchange of business delegations between the two countries.”

Chowdhury, for his part, congratulated Selahvarzi on his election as the new head of the ICCIMA, and reminded of the very close, historical and cultural relations between the two countries and said: "Unfortunately, the level of trade relations between Iran and Bangladesh is not in coordination with the level of political relations.”

He stressed that the governments of the two countries also want to increase trade relations, saying: “In this regard, we should try to facilitate the relations between the businessmen of the two countries as much as possible. Unfortunately, there is no direct transportation between Iran and Bangladesh, and the trade is mostly done through third countries.”

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Photo: ICCIMA Head Hossein Selahvarzi (R)and Ambassador of Bangladesh in Tehran Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury