Baku, Azerbaijan, July 20
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: German carmaker Volkswagen may start activity in Iran by March 2016, Iranian Ambassador to Germany Ali Majedi said.
It is hoped that the German carmaker will start joint production with Iranian manufacturers by the end of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 2016), Iran's IRNA news agency quoted Majedi as saying July 20.
He also said that negotiations with Airbus are underway to meet Iran's need for passenger planes.
Preliminary steps have been taken in this regard and it is hoped that problems with buying planes would be resolved, as well, he said.
Tehran and Berlin believe that Iran should be turned into a regional hub, Majedi said, adding that Iranian and German companies should cooperate to meet not only the Iranian market's needs, but also regional market's needs.
"We expect the German side to provide finance, as well. Transferring technology and making investment are the goals which are followed by the two countries."
German industrial giants along with tens of smaller companies, headed by Germany's Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel, arrived in Tehran on July 19 to discuss economic cooperation following conclusion of Iran's nuclear talks with the P5+1 group.
Linde, Siemens, Mercedes, BASF, Volkswagen Group, and GIZ are among the big German companies whose representatives accompany the delegation.
Germany was the 14th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2015, according to the Iran Customs Administration.
Iran exported $354.17 million of non-oil goods to Germany and imported $2.33 billion of non-oil goods from the country.
Edited by CN