WASHINGTON: The port of Antwerp yesterday (Monday), in the Iranian capital Teheran, signed a five-year cooperation agreement with Shahid Rajaee Port Authority. This is the port authority of the Iranian port Bandar Abbas. The port accommodates nearly 90% of containers which enter and leave Iran. According to the CEO of the Belgian port company, Eddy Bruyninckx, Iran is “a country with economic growth potential and a gateway to neighbouring Middle East countries.”
Bandar Abbas ferries nearly half of the 200 million tonnes which are annually conveyed in transit through the 11 Iranian ports. Antwerp will exchange information with the port of Bandar Abbas and port-based development projects there. However joint work will also be carried out in the sphere of training through APEC, which is the training centre in the port of Antwerp.
During a seminar on Monday, Antwerp companies were able to make contact with the Iranian market, mainly within the freight and petro-chemical industries. Until 2010, Antwerp was the main European destination for Iranian tankers. “These days we are relaunching economic relations with Iran,” confirms Eddy Bruyninckx.
