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Iran in talks with Italian giant carmaker

Business Materials 29 November 2015 15:22 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 29

By Fatih Karimov- Trend:

One of the Iranian auto manufacturers has held talks with Italian giant carmaker Fiat, Iran's Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said.

Fiat has expressed readiness for cooperation with Iran, Nematzadeh said, adding Tehran welcomes the cooperation.

Nematzadeh made the remarks on the sidelines of an Iran-Italy trade forum in Tehran Nov. 29, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Italian carmaker Fiat signed a deal with Iran's Pars Industries Development Fund (PIDF) in 2008 to build a new factory with a capacity of 100,000 cars to produce Fiat Siena models in Iran.

Nematzadeh said that first round of talks between Fiat and Iranian carmakers was held some 10 years ago, however the Italian carmaker later started cooperation with a US company, which lead to interruption of cooperation with Iran.

The Iranian minister further said that the Islamic Republic is ready to cooperate with Fiat for producing sedan and commercial cars, as well as CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) engines.

Iran plans to increase its auto output to three million cars per year within a 10-year period, Nematzadeh said, adding over 30 percent of the produced cars will be exported based on the country's planning.

Iran is looking for reliable partners in the automotive sector, he said.

Nematzadeh added that various car parts manufacturing companies are active in Iran and the Islamic Republic is interested to cooperate with Italian companies on the issue.

Visiting Italian Deputy Minister for Economic Development Carlo Calenda who heads a large Italian trade delegation to Tehran also said that Italy wants to help Iran become the eighth auto manufacturer in the world by 2018.

The Italian delegation, including 370 industrialists active in the fields of environment, renewable energies, mechanics, medicine, auto-manufacturing, and building materials and 12 banking groups, arrived in Tehran on Nov. 28.

Italian Trade Commission, Italian Banking Association, the country's Chambers of Commerce, and General Confederation of Italian Industry have sponsored the huge delegation's visit.

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