The Iranian deputy commerce minister said his country is pursuing ground-breaking measures to expand trade ties with Oman.
Babak Afqahi met with the Omani commerce minister in Muscat on Tuesday and stated that trade between the two countries had grown tremendously in the past few years, the Mehr News Agency reported.
He said that Iran Trade Center, which will be inaugurated in Oman tomorrow, can further promote business between the two countries.
Iran is willing to take part in oil swap deals between Oman and Turkmenistan and wants Muscat to send to Iran its oil specialists and investors in this regard, he said.
Afqahi added that Iran can dispatch engineers and technicians to carry out dam and power plant projects in Oman, further adding that the two sides should establish a joint shipping company.
Elsewhere, in a separate meeting between Afqahi and the Omani deputy commerce minister, the Iranian official called on the Islamic state to promote its ties with Iran in the fields of information technology, cement, textiles, foodstuff and nanotechnology.
He called on the Omani officials to grant port and bank concessions to Iranians to help expand their transactions with that country, and said that Omani businesses can take advantage of Iranian transit routes to other countries.
The Iranian official said he was glad that a work committee had been established to follow up on the negotiations between the two countries, and expressed hope that the neighboring Islamic state has the impetus to foster trade relations with Iran.
Oman is actively pursuing a development plan that focuses on diversification, industrialization, and privatization, with the objective of reducing the oil sector''s contribution to GDP to 9% by 2020.
Oman actively seeks private foreign investors, especially in the industrial, information technology, tourism, and higher education fields.