Tehran, Iran, October 8
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Italy's Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has said that he is ready to travel to Iran to “finalize” mutual monetary and banking agreements that the countries have made.
Speaking in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Ali Tayyebnia, Padoan said he is willing to embark on the trip in the near future, stressing that Italian banks and companies are very excited about reestablishing ties with Iran, SHADA news agency reported October 8.
“We believe in accomplishing our commitments to Iran and have been doing whatever we can to lift obstacles,” he said.
Padoan also said that Italy has proposed cooperation of SACHE and Exim Bank with Iranian partners, waiting for Tehran’s answer.
A group of Italian private companies and representatives from Iranian governmental companies as well as a group of members of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, recently inked over 10 documents on cooperation in various sectors of energy, steel, communication, aviation, airports and medicine.
Earlier, Iran and Italy signed 36 deals for expansion of bilateral cooperation during President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Rome in January and Italian PM Matteo Renzi’s recent visit to Tehran
President Rouhani visited Italy in January for two days during which the two countries signed deals worth up to 17 billion euros ($18.42 billion).
The annual volume of trade turnover between the two countries amounted to 7.5 billion euros, prior to sanctions being imposed on Iran in 2012, which dropped to 1.4 billion euros after the sanctions