TEHRAN- The head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) suggested that an agreement be signed to establish a joint arbitration center between Iran and Tajikistan.

Hossein Selahvarzi made the remarks in a meeting with Tajikistan’s Ambassador in Tehran Nizamuddin Zahedi at the place of ICCIMA on Sunday.

Referring to the increase in trade exchanges between Iran and Tajikistan and the lack of a letter of credit system, the ICCIMA head suggested that a joint arbitration center be established in the chambers of Iran and Tajikistan to solve the problem of legal claims between businessmen.

During the meeting, the two sides explored the ways for the expansion of trade between Iran and Tajikistan.

The Tajik ambassador, for his part, referred to the increasing trend of trade between the two countries, and said: “During the last three years, bilateral trade between Iran and Tajikistan has increased five times, reaching 239 million dollars last year. Of course, in the first five months of this year, the trade between the two countries faced a slight decrease compared to the same period last year and reached 95 million dollars. But we expect to reach last year's statistics or more by the end of the year.”

Zahedi also met Acting Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Mehdi Zeyghami at the place of the organization on Saturday, to discuss ways of removing trade barriers and improving economic relations between the two countries.

Speaking in the meeting, the Tajik ambassador emphasized that his country is eager for expanding trade ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Zeyghami for his part said that President Ebrahim Raisi's administration attaches great importance to trade ties with neighboring countries, including Tajikistan, and proposed holding a joint business forum between the two countries during the Iranian president's upcoming visit to Dushanbe.

He also pointed to the decrease in the volume of trade between the two countries and noted that TPO is conducting research for identifying the causes and is taking the necessary measures to remove the obstacles to the development of trade between Iran and Tajikistan.

The official further announced that Iran is going to dispatch a commercial attaché to Tajikistan by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (late March 2024).

MA

Photo: ICCIMA Head Hossein Selahvarzi (R) and Tajik Ambassador in Tehran Nizamuddin Zahedi