TEHRAN - Ambassador of Croatia to Tehran Drago Štambuk said his country is making all efforts to maintain trade with Iran, the portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) reported.

“We need planning to maintain trade with Iran during the sanctions era; there are some ways to do so and the best solution is to connect the two sides’ small and medium-sized enterprises”, he said.

The ambassador made the remarks in a meeting with ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafei at the place of the chamber on Tuesday.

In the meeting, the two sides explored different areas for mutual cooperation between Iran and Croatia’s private sectors and stressed the need for establishment of the joint economic committee which the two sides agreed eight months earlier.

Štambuk for his turn, underlined his country’s capabilities in shipbuilding and recycling technologies and expressed Croatian companies’ readiness for cooperation with Iranian counterparts in such areas.

The official emphasized the weakness in the exchange of information between the two countries, adding “Without exchange of information the base for economic cooperation development is not provided.”

He further stressed the need for a coherent and close relationship between the two countries, even at the provincial level. 

“The lack of such cooperation is in fact the missing link in reaching the desirable economic cooperation that we seek”, he said.

Shafei for his part pointed to rail transport as one of the potent areas for cooperation between the two countries, saying “Based on the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), we are planning on renovation and construction of several railway lines for connecting the port of Chabahar in the southeast of Iran to the country’s northern regions in order to connect India and China to Europe.”

“With its experience and knowledge, Croatia can help Iran to complete this route”, he added.
EF/MA