Japan’s talks to buy Iran oil underway
The chairman of the Iran-Japan Joint Trade Committee says details of talks for Japan’s purchase of Iran oil have not been revealed yet but since the past, there have been some countries like Japan and South Korea which used to use Iran oil and the whole system of their refineries had been designed based on Iran’s oil.
Speaking to ILNAnews agency, Bahram Shakouri said that replacing Iran oil has cost Japan and South Korea dear but sanctions have halted it completely and now they are again interested in resuming the purchase of Iran oil.
Speaking on the latest development of Iran-Japan trade, Shakouri said that the Japanese predict the Vienna talks will end successfully and they will be able to broaden their trade ties with Iran. He noted that in the past, oil exports accounted for major part of Iran’s trade with Japan which was halted fully due to sanctions.
"The Japanese want to resume Iran oil imports which can account for major parts of Iran’s exports".
He went on to say that the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has expressed its interest o have some meetings with the Iran-Japan Joint Trade Committee that fortunately the first meeting convened and during the meeting, its officials expressed interests for B2B meetings between Iranian and Japanese economic activists in order to pave the ground for cooperation after the removal of sanctions and following executive grounds for increasing the bilateral trade.
Shakouri said he predicts a bright future regarding the cooperation between Tehran and Tokyo, adding that Japan is among the developed countries and its interests regarding Iran is very closer.
He went on to say that both countries are experiencing 90 years of economic relations, and by the way Japan is interested in helping other countries and it has an organization which helps the developing countries and cooperates in the fields of water and pollution.
He noted that in other words, this organization tries to share its experiences with the developing countries and Japan due to its capabilities in the fields of Nano and technologies can be Iran’s target country to meet its technological demands through Japan.
The Iranian official said that Japan has resumed talks for purchasing Iran oil, and the talks are underway through foreign ministries and ambassadors, adding that the Japanese have always been interested in expanding ties with Iran but due to their joint investment with Americans, they had to follow the U.S. sanctions and if sanctions are removed, the Japanese are keen to exchange trade in some fields like importing oil or exporting state-of-the-art equipment.
Shakouri expressed hope the economic revolution between Tehran and Tokyo would broaden, adding that in the past the trade with Japan was not too much and currently it is almost zero but there is the very potential in both countries to expand their relations.
He stated that Iran can provide equipment and machineries from Japan for its mining sector, noting that some brands like Janome has been present in Iran since the past and both countries have had cooperation in different industries which can be expanded.
Shakouri reiterated that in the past Iran was the market for European countries and the U.S., and if Tehran wants to replace them, Japan is the best which can play the role of them.
He reiterated that if Iran expands its economic relations with Japan, their trade volume can reach at least $10b mark.
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