Iran, Italy keen to enhance economic ties to new height
Xinhua, July 5, 2016 Adjust font size:
A 150-strong business delegation from Italy will arrive in Iran next week for talks on boosting economic ties, semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.
The delegation from the Italian province of Marche comprises 30 provincial officials and 120 industrialists and businessmen, the report said.
Headed by Marche province Governor Luca Ceriscioli, the delegation will arrive in Tehran on July 11 to hold talks with Iranian economic officials as well as the private sectors to investigate possible opportunities for investment in Iran, according to Mehr.
The delegation will also visit the city of Sari in northern Iran to tour various production centers in Mazandaran province and to hold direct talks with business representatives there.
Italy was Iran's major trade partner in the European Union and the two countries' transactions stood at 7.5 billion euros. It declined to 1.4 billion euros when the West imposed a series of economic and financial sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear program.
Since the lift of western sanctions on Iran in January, the country has been ramping out its negotiations with European countries to restore its traditional ties with them.
In mid-April, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi headed a 250-strong political and economic delegation to Iran and signed seven MoUs in the fields of culture, tourism, industrial cooperation, railway and airport construction, oil and gas, and renewable energy. Endit