Tehran Chamber of Commerce to Host Online Trade Forum With Russia

EghtesadOnline: A forum will be held on Sept. 21 through Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture's online platform for reviewing trade ties between Iran and Russia.

News ID: ۷۵۰۹۴۹

10 September 2020

Members of Tehran Chamber of Commerce and their counterparts from Samara (the ninth-largest city in Russia and the administrative center of Samara Oblast) Chamber of Commerce and Industry will survey ways of boosting bilateral economic and trade ties, the news portal of TCCIM reported.

Business people active in a host of fields, including agriculture and animal husbandry, agricultural machinery, gas processing for electricity and heat production, ecofriendly automotive systems, telecommunications, metal industry, information technology, lighting control systems, aerospace engineering, wires and cables, casting, oil industry equipment, chemicals, medical equipment, tourism and health services will engage in B2B negotiations.

Businesses willing to take part in the event have until Sept. 15 to register through the TCCIM website.

Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali Asghar Mounesan recently said he would visit Russia by the end of the current Iranian month (Sept. 21) to carry out final negotiations on Iran-Russia visa waiver deal, ISNA reported.

The first phase of the visa waiver plan, calling for mutual relaxation of visa procedures for people active in trade, science and tourism sectors, went into effect in February 2016.

Setting up the logistics of waiving visa requirements for group tours was the second phase of the plan, signed by the consular officials of the two countries, which has yet to take effect.

Implementing total visa-free travel is the third and final phase of the scheme, which MoU Mounesan was intent on finalizing by March 2020, only to be met by the outbreak of coronavirus.

“Some countries have resumed the inflow of foreign tourist; we are also ready to reopen to tourists in accordance with health and safety guidelines,” he told the Tourism Policymaking Council of the Private Sector on Tuesday.

Last month, Hassan Nourian, the head of Passport and Visa Department of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, announced that tourist and pilgrimage visas are not being issued by his department.

“Given the Covid-19 pandemic and recommendations by the World Health Organization on refraining from unnecessary travel, the options of tourist and pilgrimage visa have been deactivated on Iran’s electronic visa system. Once conditions normalize, these options will be reactivated,” he said.