Iran trade with India to US$ 30 billion by 2015

Iran trade with India to US$ 30 billion by 2015
2010-07-09 05:33:21 - 9 July 2010 -New Delhi - Sagar Media -Nksagar
Dr. Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini, Minister for Economic Affairs & Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran , to sign agreements with Indian government at 6:00 PM at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.Dr. Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini, Minister for Economic Affairs & Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran , will emplane for Dubai at 9:50 PM.

Iran has expressed its willingness to sign a bilateral investment protection treaty with India to enhance the flow of investments in both countries and double the bilateral trade turnover to US$ 30 billion by 2015,Dr.Seyed Shamsodin Hosseini, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran,said here today.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Investment Opportunities in Iran’, organized by FICCI,
Dr. Hosseini said,“I will talk to India’s Finance Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee,
later today to explore the possibility of initialing a Bilateral Investment Protection Treaty between the two countries. My mission to India in this trip is to use the capacity of the Iran-India Joint Commission to remove all barriers to the two-way trade and facilitate the flow of investments.”The two-day 16th session of the India-Iran Joint Commission is being held here from today. The meeting is expected to identify joint cooperation projects such as Chabahar Port, energy cooperation, economic ties and counter-terrorism.

The Iranian Minister said that Iran-India trade had seen over60 per cent increase
in the last three years from US$ 9 billion to US$ 15 billion. “We need to now
double the trade volume by 100 per cent in the next five years to US$ 30 billion,”
he declared.

Dr Hosseini, while assuring India of Iran’s commitment to ensure sustainable
energy supplies to meet India’s growing crude oil requirements, invited Indian
firms to invest in Iran’s infrastructure projects, oil, gas & petrochemicals, mining
& metals, automobiles, transportation & machinery, chemicals & pharmaceuticals, textiles and agriculture, especially the food industry.He held out the commitment to Indian companies to facilitate their entry into the CIS countries, particularly in the Caucasian region comprising Russia, Armenia,Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Besides, underlining the need for strengthening the bilateral investment
cooperation in banking, insurance and new areas such as nanotechnology, Dr.
Hosseini called upon the Indian travel and tourism industry to tie-up with Iranian
firms to increase people-to-people contacts.

Dr. Behrouz Alishiri, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, said
that the Iranian delegation had a selection of 60 projects covering a range of
sectors which offer a huge investment potential to Indian firms. He said that the
global financial crisis had shown that there was no choice but to strengthen
regional cooperation to minimize the impact of adverse global developments.
“We are by your side and at your service,” he assured Indian business.

The seminar was also addressed by Mr. Sanjay Singh, India’s Ambassador to Iran;Mr. Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh, Iranian Ambassador to India; Mr. B M Bansal,
Chairman, India-Iran Joint Business Council (JBC) & Chairman, Indian Oil
Corporation; and Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI.

Sectoral presentations on investment opportunities in Iran in oil, gas &
petrochemicals, mining & metals, automobiles, transportation & machinery,
chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, textiles and agriculture by Dr. Behrouz Alishiri,
Iran’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance; Mr. Gholamreza
Heydari Kord Zangeneh, Iran’s Vice-Minister of Economic Affairs & Finance &
Head of Iranian Privatization Organization and Mr. R. Roshannia, Head of Olefin
& Aromatic, National Petroleum Company of Iran.

Presentations of doing business with India were made by Mr. Nabin Ballodia,
Director, KPMG; Mr. Ramesh, Managing Director, TSS Projects and Mr. Dushyant
Thakur, General Manager, Invest India.

Media agency FICCI