Iranian, Syrian FMs discuss boosting joint investment coop.

“Syrian-Iranian Foundation Investment Forum” was held at Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus on Tuesday in the presence of representatives of the industrial and commercial sectors in Syria and Iran, the ministries of economy, foreign trade, and industry, in cooperation with the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade, SANA reported.

The Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Mohammad Samer al-Khalil underlined the importance of the expertise and capabilities that the two countries possess.

He added that Syrian-Iranian relations have reached an advanced stage at the level of networking, organization, decisions, and procedures that help strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

Al-Khalil noted that trade cooperation between the two countries is not a final goal in itself, but rather is a path towards achieving more cooperation at the investment level, thus achieving industrial and economic integration.

In turn, the Iranian Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, Seyed Reza Fatemi Amin, affirmed the Iranian side’s readiness to cooperate and consult with Syrian government officials in order to reach solutions to the problems, especially those related to transport, exports, the transfer of funds and the exemption of goods from customs duties.

At the conclusion of the forum, which dealt with investment axes in the sectors of industry, economy, and foreign trade, the participants recommended forming a joint committee from the Syrian and Iranian governments.

Emphasis was placed on the establishment of four exhibitions for the sale of Syrian products in four different Iranian provinces, holding “agricultural, industrial and commercial” economic forums at a rate of one every two months “once in Iran and once in Syria” and allowing Syrian goods to enter the Iranian market without customs duties in support of the Syrian economy and re-exporting them to neighboring countries of Iran.

It was also agreed to work on solving the problems of Iranian companies investing in Syria, continue communication to solve the problem of land freight between the two countries through Iraq, follow up on the proposal to form a joint shipping company, work on solving the problem of remittances, study the possibility of exchange in local currencies, encourage medical, environmental and recreational tourism, and increase the number of flights between the two countries.

RHM/PR