Iran is planning to dispatch commercial attachés to Germany and France
by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2016), ISNA
news agency quoted Reza Abbasqoli, an official with the Trade Promotion
Organization of Iran (TPOI) as saying on Tuesday.
Currently, Abbasqoli said, Italy is the only country in Europe that Iran
has a commercial attaché in. According to him, while Iraq and
Afghanistan are among the top export destinations for Iran, the country
is also aiming to penetrate African markets; in this respect, he added,
commercial attachés will be sent by year-end to Basra and Sulaymaniyah
in Iraq, Herat in Afghanistan as well as to Nigeria. The official
further noted that Iran already has commercial attachés in India, Oman,
Afghanistan, Turkey, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Venezuela,
Armenian, Belarus, Pakistan, South Africa, Kenya, Lebanon, Italy,
Vietnam, as well as Shanghai and Beijing in China. In regard to
countries that Iran doesn’t have political relations with, he said, the
decision for assigning commercial attachés depends on high politics.
Last November, Abbasqoli said that Iranian officials have agreed on
appointing commercial attachés to 30 countries, while it is still
unclear whether the country will give the go-ahead to assign a
commercial attaché to the U.S.
An increase in the number of Iran’s commercial attachés is not
unwarranted as there has been a resurgence of foreign investors and
companies, especially western ones, to seek trade avenues in the
enticing market in the wake of the nuclear deal clinched between the
country and major powers.
Source: TPI