Iran willing to increase presence of Vietnamese oil, gas companies: Rouhani

The visiting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said here Thursday that his country is willing to create greater conditions for Vietnamese oil and gas companies to be present in Iran.

Rouhani made the remark at a joint press conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang after bilateral talks in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Thursday.

According to Rouhani, Iran has much potential in exports of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and asphalt among others.

The Iranian leader expressed his willingness to work with Vietnam in high technology, new technology, establishment of science-technology centers in Vietnam, construction materials, building roads and bridges, thermal power, student and teacher exchanges, and agricultural production.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang, for his part, said at the press conference that in spite of numerous opportunities, the scale of Vietnam-Iran cooperation and bilateral trade revenue remains modest.

Two leaders said the two countries will strive to bring the bilateral trade revenue to over two billion U.S. dollars in the coming time.

Quang and Rouhani also consented to create favorable conditions for two countries' enterprises to invest in such areas as energy, information and communication, agriculture, aquaculture, science and technology, banking, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.

Prior to the press conference, two leaders had witnessed the signing of an agreement on visa exemption for service passport holders and a memorandum of understanding on information and communication.

On the same day, the visiting Iranian President also met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and paid a courtesy call on General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is paying a state visit to Vietnam from Wednesday to Friday at the invitation of Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang. Endit