TEHRAN - Iran Ship Building and Offshore Industries Complex Company (ISOICO) and Dutch maritime group Royal IHC signed a memorandum of understanding on engineering and knowledge transfer as well as manufacturing and supplying of equipment.

The MOU was signed on Wednesday in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, IRNA reported on Thursday.

According to Hamid Rezaeeyan, the managing director of ISOICO, as of the implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal in January 2016, Iran has been inundated with European and Asian countries' offers who wish to expand cooperation with the country in the shipbuilding sector and the Netherlands stands among them. 

Expressing his company’s tendency towards utilizing Dutch companies’ expertise in this regard, the ISOICO head added that Dutch companies are welcomed in Iran to invest in the shipbuilding sector and to transfer modern know-how into the Islamic republic.

Rezaeeyan made the remarks on the sidelines of the MOU signing ceremony, where Melanie Schultz van Haegen-Maas Geesteranus, the visiting Dutch minister of infrastructure and environment was also present.

The Netherlands’ minister entered Iran last Tuesday upon the invitation of the Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian. Leading a delegation comprised of the managing directors and representatives of various Dutch companies such as Royal BAM Group, Royal IHC, Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, STC Group, Van Oord, and Witteveen+Bos, she visited several Iranian officials during her stay.

HJ/MA