TEHRAN: Iran will dispatch two trade delegations to Italy by the next two months, according to Iran-Italy Joint Chamber of Commerce’s Chairman Ahmad Pourfallah.
Pourfallah said Italy can have a good cooperation with Iran in supplying steel industry’s equipment, household appliances and leather products as well as in weaving sector.
Italy was the leading European trading partner of Iran before sanctions were imposed on the Islamic Republic, the official said; adding that Iran-Italy annual trade stood at $7 billion prior to the sanctions, while it has dropped to around $1 billion now.
The figure could rise to $10 billion given the potentialities between the two countries, he mentioned.
Italy took the lead among Iran’s European trading partners in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20.
Italy was the 9th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the past calendar year, with importing $618.419 million of non-oil goods from Iran and exporting $1.059 billion of non-oil goods to the country, accounting for 1.5 percent of Iran’s total non-oil trade.
That was while Italy was the 19th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in Iranian calendar year 1392 (March 2013-March 2014).
Italian Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi, heading a delegation of 300 traders and businessmen, traveled to Iran on August 4 to explore new investment opportunities in Iran after removal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The Italian minister visited Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian economy and industry ministers, as well as officials of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran during her two-day visit seeking to restore once booming economic ties with Iran.
