Italian companies to keep working in Iran
Italian investment companies will remain active in Iran despite unilateral US sanctions, said the head of Trade Promotion Section of the Italian Embassy in Iran.
“We have received a great number of requests from the Italian companies to invest in Iran and the embassy tries to facilitate them,” said Augusto Di Giacinto in a meeting with the members of the chamber of commerce and businessmen of Iran’s northern province of Mazandaran, IRNA reported.
He underlined that small family-owned businesses constitute over 90 percent of Italian production and industrial companies that can keep working in Iran during sanctions. “We have proven our goodwill and will continue to support Iran even under difficult economic conditions,” he added.
He hoped that banking transactions for Italian businessmen would be facilitated soon.
He further reiterated that both countries should lever up ties with trade capacities.
A number of Italian businessmen accompanied Di Giacinto on his one-day visit to Mazandaran on Wednesday.
Currently Iran-Italy trade stands at roughly $5 billion and this figure is expected to reach $13 billion in the next few years due to trade agreements between the two countries.
Italy’s Ambassador to Iran Mauro Conciatori announced on Monday that Rome is determined to bolster cooperation with Tehran.
“Although there are problems ahead of joint cooperation between Iran and Italy, Italian industrial and production units are vehemently seeking to broaden trade and business cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the ambassador maintained.
“All European countries are eagerly waiting to see what will happen to the future of Iran-Europe economic ties after November 4,” added the Italian diplomat.
US President Trump has threatened to cut Iran’s oil revenues to zero by November 4 in a move described by his administration as the harshest economic measures against any country in the world.
“However, Italy’s commercial envoys and Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has tried to explore avenues for broadening trade and business cooperation,” opined Conciatori.
Touching upon small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he said, “In this respect, it is necessary that suitable ways should be paved for enhancing and boosting level of business cooperation with Iranian SMEs.”
Source:iran-daily.com