TEHRAN- The Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) announced the organization’s plan to activate the country’s idle port capacities, develop maritime diplomacy, and use the capacities of the embassies of the Islamic Republic of Iran to expand maritime trade and transport.

According to a Saturday report by IRNA from the Ports and Maritime Organization, Mohammad Shakibi-Nasab, in an in-person meeting with Hamid Ghanbari, Deputy for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a virtual connection with ambassadors and heads of Iran’s diplomatic missions abroad, stressed the need to strengthen maritime diplomacy and use embassy capacities to develop maritime trade and transport.

Referring to the country’s ports’ nominal capacity of about 302 million tons, he said: “Despite this capacity, in recent years about 50 to 55 percent of the ports’ capacity has been idle, and by introducing the capacities of Iranian ports to target countries, the ground must be provided for greater use of this capacity.”

The Head of the Ports and Maritime Organization added: “Infrastructure development without diplomacy, and diplomacy without infrastructure development, cannot achieve the desired result, and strengthening synergy between domestic bodies and partner countries is essential.”

He also described banking transactions, insurance issues, and investment as important challenges in maritime trade and said: “The embassies of the Islamic Republic of Iran can play an effective role in introducing investment opportunities and the country’s capacities in the North-South and East-West corridors.”

Shakibi-Nasab, referring to the start of smart port development measures and the selection of Bushehr Port as the organization’s pilot in this field, stressed the use of other countries’ experiences and the transfer of knowledge and experience in the ports sector.

In conclusion, he stressed the continuation of joint meetings with ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran and follow-up on the resolutions and proposals raised with the aim of further boosting maritime transport.

Further, the Deputy for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the drafting of a joint cooperation charter between this deputy and the Ports and Maritime Organization with the aim of turning economic and maritime diplomacy capacities into specific and trackable projects.

Ghanbari, referring to the need to strengthen coordination among bodies active in economic diplomacy, announced the drafting of a joint cooperation charter between the Deputy for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ports and Maritime Organization.

Stating that the purpose of this charter is to create a clear framework for cooperation and division of labor between the two bodies, he stated: “Common issues and capacities must move beyond the level of oral talks and be defined in the form of specific, phased, and trackable projects.”

Ghanbari added: “In this framework, it must be precisely determined what responsibility the Deputy for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ports and Maritime Organization, and the missions of the Islamic Republic of Iran abroad bear in each project and what measures they must take.”

The Deputy for Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referring to the design of a mechanism and system for following up these cooperations, said: “The design of this structure has almost reached the implementation stage, and in the first step, the output of meetings and joint minutes will be the initial basis for drafting the charter, and after that, the programs will be pursued in a project-oriented manner.”

He continued: “The recent meeting was held more smoothly and coherently than the first meeting, but to fully update information and reach consensus between the two bodies, holding supplementary meetings is necessary.”

Ghanbari emphasized: “Creating this charter can make the path of joint cooperation clearer and provide the possibility of more precise follow-up of projects and measuring their progress, and it is expected that within the next two months, the framework of cooperations and the implementation path of joint projects will become clearer.”

In this meeting, the ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran abroad also presented their views and proposals on solutions for developing economic and commercial relations with target countries and emphasized strengthening economic cooperation through activating the capacities of the two countries’ private sectors, identifying new investment opportunities, and developing trade interactions.

The ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran also, referring to the existing capacities in their countries of mission, emphasized the necessity of purposefully using the capacity of Iran’s missions to facilitate communication among economic actors, introduce investment capacities, and provide the ground for a more effective presence of Iran’s private sector in foreign markets.

MA