TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says technology transfer and joint venture should be prioritized in economic transactions with Europe, especially with Italy.

In a meeting with Italian Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi and Foreign Affairs Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tehran, Rouhani said there are no barriers to hinder cooperation between the two countries. Iran and Italy can start a new era in economic, political, scientific, and tourism sectors, he added.

There are ample investment opportunities in Iran’s energy, banking, industry, transport, and health projects, Rouhani stated.
Italian Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi also met with Iranian economy and industry ministers, as well as officials of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, seeking to restore once booming economic ties with Iran. 

Italy was the leading trading partner of Iran before sanctions are imposed on Iran. Bilateral trade reached €7 billion in 2011, while it has dropped to around €1 billion now. Nearly all large Italian companies had established centers in Iran.

Guidi, heading a high-ranking trade delegation, arrived in Tehran on August 4. The delegation, comprising 300 traders and businessmen, was also accompanied by Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni.  

“We want to identify prioritized fields of activity to resume bilateral economic and trade cooperation once sanctions are lifted,” Guidi said. 

Senior directors of Italian renowned energy companies such as Eni S.p.A. and financial entities like SACE, in addition to the carmakers, pharmaceutical producers and banks are among the members of delegation.  

Iran’s TPOI, Italy’s ICE sign trade agreement

Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) and Italian Institute for Foreign Trade, known as Istituto per il Commercio con l'Estero (ICE), made a trade agreement in Tehran on August 4.

The agreement was signed with Valiollah Afkhami-Rad, the director of TPOI, and Roberto Luongo, the general manager of ICE, on the sidelines of a meeting between Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad-Reza Ne’matzadeh and Italian Economic Development Minister Federica Guidi.

The deal, which was the first trade agreement between Iran and a European country after Iran’s nuclear deal with the world’s major powers, was on cooperation in the fields such as exchanging trade and commercial knowledge as well as trade delegations between the two countries in addition to offering training services.

Mediobanca to fund $2 billion of projects in Iran

Iran and Italy inked an agreement based on which Italy’s Mediobanca will provide $2 billion in loans to fund development projects in Iran, according to an official with the Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Ministry.

Sa’eid Khani Oshani, an official in the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran, said Mediobanca, the leading investment bank in Italy, will allocate the fund to carry out industrial, development and infrastructure projects in Iran, the IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Oshani said it is the fund that the Italian side will allocate to Iranian projects in the first step; but the deal has set no ceiling for the loan, as it depends on the types of projects as well as receiving required legal permits.

The deal was signed in Tehran on August 4 between Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Ministry and Central Bank of Iran (CBI), as the Iranian side, and Italian Economic Development Ministry and Italy’s Institute for Foreign Trade Insurance Services, known as Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE), as the Italian side, the official stated.

He said that SACE is due to insure the loan that Mediobanca will pay.

The deal will go into effect as soon as the sanctions are removed from Iran’s banking and financial sector, he mentioned.

Car industry cooperation hailed

In a meeting with Iran’s Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad-Reza Ne’matzadeh, Guidi hailed Iran-Italy trade relations as long-standing, saying that Italy would invest in Iran’s car industry in the near future.

“we would certainly invest in Iran’s car industry in the near future as a high number of cars is manufactured in the country and this production level will not certainly be limited to the domestic market”, the official remarked in reply to a question on how Iran-Italy car industry cooperation would like in the future.

Bilateral relationships between the two countries should not be confined to heavy industries and small and mediocre industries should be constructed as well, Guidi added.

According to Guidi, the two countries has a long history of close bilateral economic and industrial ties, totaling more than €7 billion prior to the sanctions.

Guidi referred to the historical moments following the nuclear accord and said that the agreed upon contracts benefit both Iran and the European Union.

Guidi emphasized that her country is reconsidering its economic and industrial ties with Iran and emphasized a focus shift from small, traditional markets to broader scales. A long-term trade relation should be defined on a win-win basis and we attempt to provide financing mechanisms for establishing new trade relations, Guidi highlighted.
Italy took the lead among Iran’s European trading partners in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20.    

Italy was the 9th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the past calendar year, with importing $618.419 million of non-oil goods from Iran and exporting $1.059 billion of non-oil goods to the country, accounting for 1.5 percent of Iran’s total non-oil trade.     

That was while Italy was the 19th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in Iranian calendar year 1392 (March 2013-March 2014).