133 Delegations Received in 1 Year
Iran Chamber of Commerce is the fourth generation of business body in the country. The first generation comprised foreign companies under title of Assembly of Businessmen during the reign of Nasser ad-Din Shah Qajar.
With more than 133 years of history, Iran Chamber of Commerce which is older than Iran's petroleum industry regroups Iranian private entities. Iran Chamber of Commerce has 34 provincial branches and 200 specialized affiliates.
According to Iran's Constitution, Iran Chamber of Commerce now advises the three bodies of power in the Islamic Republic. It is also tasked with screening business environment and implementing Article 44 of the Constitution.
Iran Chamber of Commerce is also the representative of the private sector for negotiations with foreign companies and businesspeople.
Pedram Soltani, vice-president of Iran Chamber of Commerce, told Iran Petroleum that the chamber has hosted more than 133 business delegations from a variety of countries over the past one year alone.
The following is the full text of the interview:
Q: Given the extent of activities of Iran Chamber of Commerce, would you please explain about its cooperation with Iran's petroleum industry?
A: As one of economic ministries in the country, Iran's Ministry of Petroleum has many stakeholders at the Chamber of Commerce. There is a good and persistent interaction between this ministry and the Chamber. Over recent years, many meetings have been held with the minister of petroleum. Iran's petroleum industry top officials are present at the Energy Committee of Iran Chamber of Commerce. Furthermore, there are other organs and committees active in this Chamber with close ties with the petroleum industry.
Due to close ties between these bodies, the Federation of Petroleum Industry has been recently established at Iran Chamber of Commerce.
The presence of Iranian oil industry officials in the federation is an important point in this Chamber. That has so far contributed to interaction between the Chamber and the petroleum industry. Another instance of communications between this Chamber and the petroleum industry is the presence of the representative of the Chamber in the Economic Council for making decisions about petroleum industry projects.
Q: Iran-West nuclear agreement is now entering its second year. How has the implementation of this agreement affected your international communications?
A: As a highly positioned element in Iran’s private sector, Iran Chamber of Commerce has largely communicated with its counterparts in European and Asian countries both directly and indirectly over this time.
Since petroleum industry is the most known economic sector in Iran, all foreign companies willing to invest in Iran’s petroleum industry were naturally present in our negotiations. Therefore, we are making efforts to steer Iranian companies involved in the energy sector into cooperating with foreign parties. I would like to remind that oil and gas companies represent a significant share in business delegations visiting Iran. Meantime, we see many representatives of foreign companies travelling to Iran in order to meet with representatives of oil and gas companies.
In the new round of interaction between Iranian Ministry of Petroleum and international companies, our efforts have been focused upon serious presence in joint programs and conferences in order to let the private sector win a toehold and also create conditions for the private sector to get more involved in this industry and further win the trust of the Ministry of Petroleum.
Before the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we held talks with our