Iran-Italy trade is very slowly growing; Expert

Ahmad Pourfallah said in an exclusive interview with ILNA news agency that that Iran and Italy are still miles away from repeating their record of 7b euros of trade volume which had been set some 15 years ago and currently their annual trade volume is around 1b euros and in the first five months of this year, their trade has been around 450,000 euros but it is growing and it is expected it to increase considerably by the yearend.

He noted that there has been no decline in Iran-Italy trade but it is very slowly growing, adding that the chamber had a seminar with participation of some 400 Iranian and Italian traders where ambassadors of the two countries as well as the heads of their joint chambers of commerce were present.

Pourfallah added that the seminar is sign of more cooperation between the two countries after the new government took office in Tehran and slight gateways for communication opened.

He said he is still optimistic over the increase of trade with Italy as the Italians welcomed investment in Iran during the seminar. He added that Iran has told the Italian investors that it is keen to have joint or independent investment of Italians in the field of the new technologies.

He also hailed the commercial sector of Embassy of Italy in Tehran for its good cooperation with Iranian traders, and said  it can boost the bilateral cooperation.

Pourfallah also said if the nuclear talks have a good ending, Iran’s problems with most countries would be resolved and expressed hope the talks end in a win-win result.

He also said as a trader he believes if the issue of the FATF is not resolved, it is not expected the problem of money transfer to be resolved.

Reacting to Iran’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the prospect of an opening in the economic sector, he reiterated that Iran should balance its economic interactions with East or West and if the country leans towards one side, it may face some restrictions from the other side.

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