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Australia-Iran trade promotion going ‘very well’ (exclusive)

Business Materials 5 December 2016 10:44 (UTC +04:00)
Iran and Australia are engaged in activities to promote bilateral trade and things have gone very well
Australia-Iran trade promotion going ‘very well’ (exclusive)

Tehran, Iran, December 4

By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:

Iran and Australia are engaged in activities to promote bilateral trade and things have gone very well, Australian Ambassador to Tehran Jan Biggs told Trend December 3.

"The biggest event for us was the reopening of the Australian Trade Commission two months ago," he said. "Our trade minister Mr. Steven Ciobo came here, had a wonderful visit, signed a number of MoUs, talked to the ministry of energy and science and also the minister for industry and trade. Everything was good."

Mr. Biggs said Australian firms are highly interested in opening ties with Iran as the Iranian economy has opened up international business in the post-sanctions era.

"There are a number of Australian firms having great interest in the issue," he said. "We will have to see how they work to prequalify for the international petroleum contract and also many of them which are involved in traditional trade in agriculture and commodities."

Iran was freed from international sanctions following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in early 2016. Since then, the country has managed to make preliminary agreements and in some case sign contracts with international companies.

The Australian ambassador also pinpointed the sectors that Australian firms are most interested in as they come to Iran.

"The things we are doing best and we are most hopeful about for the future are services in the mining sector and business in general," he said.

Executives from GrainCorp, WorleyParsons, LiveCorp, Oil Search, Qantas, Sydney Univer­sity and Rubicon Water traveled with Mr. Ciobo in September.

"We are in the dawn of a new age of the relationship with Iran," Ciobo said at a gathering of business leaders in Tehran back then.

At its peak, Australia exported almost $1 billion worth of goods to Iran before nuclear sanctions slashed the trade to below $350 million.

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