Negotiations with Russian officials; From joint production of cars and establishment of a trade center to Iran’s membership in BRICS
Alireza Peyman Pak, who left for St. Petersburg on Wednesday to attend the 25th International Economic Forum, met with senior Russian economic officials during his three-day stay in the city, IRNA reported on Saturday. And trade had meetings and conversations.
Russia is ready to build a railway in Iran
During the meeting, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Overchuk welcomed the activation of the North-South Corridor, asked about Iran’s plan to solve the corridor’s logistical problems, and announced the Russian President’s agreement to build a railway in Iran.
He said: Russia is ready to build and deliver 162 km of Astara-Rasht railway to Iran.
In the continuation of this meeting, monetary issues and formation of a joint production working group, supply of industrial parts of Russian factories by Iranian factories, creation of joint free zones in the north and south of Iran were discussed and exchanged views.
The Pact also emphasized Russia’s role in modernizing Iran’s rail transport fleet, modernizing its shipping fleet in the Caspian Sea, and modernizing Iran’s road fleet.
Russia’s deputy prime minister also said that the Russians knew that the sanctions would not be lifted because of the enemies ‘greed for the two countries’ vast resources, and stressed the need to design new ways of exchanging money and banking.
He also announced Russia’s determination to pursue Iran’s membership in the BRICS and suggested that Iran join the Eurasian Union as an observer member.
Establishment of Nova-Pars Business Center in St. Petersburg
Also on the sidelines of the 25th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of an Iran-Russia business center centered on St. Petersburg and Tehran entitled “Nova-Pars” was attended by Peyman Pak, head of Iran’s Development and Trade Organization, Kazem Jalali, Iranian ambassador to Russia and Kryl Valentinovich Polyak. , St. Petersburg Deputy Governor, Grigoriev Eugene Dmitrievich, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Government’s Foreign Relations Committee, Applesenin Dmitry Vladimirovich, Head of the Iran and Middle East Committee of the St. Petersburg Government’s Foreign Relations Committee.
With the establishment of this center, the development of mutual trade between Iran and Russia in the fields of supply of oil and gas equipment, transportation engineering products, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, electronic equipment, design and construction of energy facilities, establishment of repaired equipment supply base, agriculture, food industry, pharmacy and A building is on the agenda.
Development of trade-economic cooperation and investment in propulsion and priority industries between companies, organizations and producers of Iran and Russia, effective support and assistance in establishing direct trade relations between Russian and Iranian entrepreneurs, establishing a suitable mechanism to facilitate financial relations of companies based in geography The two sides launched Internet portals introducing Iran’s trade potential to Russia and vice versa, trying to develop the North-South International Transport Corridor project to facilitate the transit of goods between the two countries, creating all the necessary infrastructure such as the presence of Iranian and Russian banks and insurance companies in The center, the establishment of an exhibition unit to display the achievements of the parties in the opposite country and also the establishment of cultural centers within the parties are among the goals of setting up a business center between Iran and Russia.
In this ceremony, the head of the Development and Trade Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran called the establishment of this center a new chapter of cooperation between Iranian and Russian companies and emphasized on supporting its plans.
Peyman Pak described the implementation of the previously signed group visa waiver agreement between the two countries as a way to develop tourism in the two countries.
The Deputy Governor of St. Petersburg, while expressing satisfaction with the establishment of this center and comprehensive cooperation in advancing its goals, referred to the sisterhood of St. Petersburg with Isfahan and announced the visit of a business delegation from Russia to Iran and presence in Isfahan and Tehran.
Russian Housing Minister requests purchase of construction materials and turbines
Also in separate meetings, Peyman Pak met with Russian Minister of Housing Faizulin and Maxim Sokolov, CEO of Autabas and former Minister of Transportation of Russia.
In these meetings, negotiations were held to reduce the import tariff on wheat and oil, and it was agreed on joint production of cars in Iran.
The two sides also discussed the construction of joint settlements and industrial zones, as well as the use of the existing settlements’ capacity for free trade and joint productions.
In these meetings, the Russian Minister of Housing expressed his country’s desire to buy construction materials and turbines from Iran.
Iran’s emphasis on signing the Eurasian Free Trade Agreement before the end of 2022
Following the presence of Peyman Pak in St. Petersburg, he attended a specialized meeting on Iran-Russia trade cooperation and in a speech referring to the total volume of Iran-Russia trade with the world, which is about $ 700 billion, said: Of this figure, only four billion dollars It is dedicated to the exchanges between Iran and Russia, which is a very small number.
Referring to the political relations between the two countries, he stressed: “Trade exchanges between Iran and Russia should increase rapidly, but this increase requires several important measures that we must accelerate.”
Saying that trade should be seen in the supply chain, Peyman Pak added: “Currently, the lack of sufficient knowledge of Iranian and Russian businessmen has led to a small volume of exchanges. .
According to him, in the last three months, the largest trade delegation in the history of Iran was sent to Russia, which led to good trade achievements for traders.
The head of the Trade Development Organization also pointed to the potential in the provinces of the two countries and added: “In this regard, we are establishing a direct relationship between the complementary provinces so that they can take advantage of each other’s capacities.”
He announced the Iranian President’s emphasis on the need to implement the Eurasian Agreement and said: “We emphasize that the Eurasian Free Trade Agreement should be signed before the end of 2022.”
Peyman Pak also considered the holding of joint specialized exhibitions as another measure that will lead to the development of trade relations between Iran and Russia, and further spoke about the removal of barriers to monetary, banking and national exchanges.
He said: “Both countries are facing oppressive sanctions, which in the first place have targeted the monetary and banking system. The Islamic Republic of Iran has gained good experience through a long struggle against oppressive sanctions and has designed various ways to combat these sanctions.
Deputy Minister Samat continued: “Several meetings have been held between the banking managers of the two countries, and the definition of a specific solution can not only boost trade between Iran and Russia, but also provide opportunities for the use of other countries.”
In another part of his speech, he referred to the issue of customs and logistics problems in the field of transportation and added: “With the current situation that Commerce has two countries, it can not expect an increase in trade and customs should increase their level.”
Referring to the launch of the North-South corridor, Peyman Pak said: “Transportation infrastructure is not in a good condition and despite the 80% increase in transit through this route, this current number does not meet the needs of the two countries.”
He noted the desire of East African countries and the Persian Gulf to use the North-South corridor and added: “We have repeated requests from these countries to launch this corridor, which by solving logistical problems can be a very good alternative to routes blocked due to the current crisis.” have became.
In this regard, he proposed the formation of joint transport companies and joint ventures to modernize and equip the road, rail and sea transport fleet, as well as accelerate the joint completion of the Rasht-Astara railway, which was welcomed by the Russian side.
In the end, the head of the Trade Development Organization stressed the need for joint industrial and knowledge-based products by the two countries and added: “Complementary Iranian and Russian knowledge can lead to the production of products that, in addition to meeting the domestic needs of both countries, export and get rid of dependence on other countries.” To end.
This specialized meeting was attended by the Special Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, the Head of the Russian Export Center, the Governor of Astrakhan, the President of the Russian Federation and the Deputy Minister of Railways, and the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Russia. Russian economic and trade was held.
Meeting with Putin’s aide and emphasizing expansion of trade and economic relations
In another meeting, the Pact held a meeting with Russian Vice President Kubiakov, and the two sides stressed the need to expand trade relations between their respective countries.
Cooperation on issues such as automotive, shipping, shipbuilding, activation of the North-South corridor, banking cooperation and foreign exchange, joint production between the two countries’ mother industries were among the topics discussed during the meeting.
Peyman Pak also stressed Iran’s readiness to conclude long-term contracts in the field of fruit and vegetables in cooperation with the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce to stabilize and expand the volume of exports.
Kubiakov also welcomed the offer of the head of the Trade Development Organization to hold joint exhibitions between Iranian and Russian companies, saying that the Russian car industry is ready to cooperate with Iran and that Iran can be our business partner in a market that, according to the Wall Street Journal. The West has left the $ 100 billion market.
Meeting with the Minister of Commerce of the Eurasian Economic Union
In a meeting with Andrei Slpeniov, Minister of Commerce of the Eurasian Economic Union, Peyman Pak also stressed the efforts of all the country’s institutions to facilitate the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the union and suggested that in addition to cooperation with Iran’s free industrial zones with similar regions in the member countries. The union should also start consultations on the joint production of industrial goods.
The Minister of Commerce of the Eurasian Economic Union also announced the readiness of the union to send its experts to Iran to continue negotiations on a free trade agreement and welcomed the proposals of the Pact to expand Iran’s cooperation with the five countries.
Meeting with Governor Saratov and meeting with President Odmortia
In another meeting, Peyman Pak had a meeting with the novel of Viktorovich Gusarkin, the governor of Saratov, Russia.
The head of the Trade Development Organization of Iran also met with Alexander Berchalov, President of the Republic of Udmurtia of the Russian Federation, during which the two sides discussed economic and trade cooperation between the republic and the provinces of our country and trade exchanges.