A French delegation of top business leaders will visit Iran in late September to further discuss cooperation in transportation and urban development.
The visit comes as a follow-up to a meeting between the heads of 70 French companies led by Yves-Thibault de Silguy, vice president of MEDEF International (a giant French investment company) with Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi in Paris in June, Mehr News Agency quoted French newsletter Hebdo as reporting.
The French local media widely covered the visit by articles on the intention of top investment companies in France to cooperate in renovation of Tehran and Mashhad airports as well as in the development of roads, railroad transport, housing and aviation of the country.
Purchasing 400 new aircraft worth over $20 billion and building nine international airport terminals were reported by Le Monde, a top French daily, as the focus of Akhoundi’s talks in Paris together with the potential investment in the transport sector that included $25 billion on improving rail infrastructure and $30 billion on roads and motorways.
During his address to a conference at the International Diplomatic Academy in Paris, Akhoundi also said about $80 billion worth of business are up for grabs in Iran’s transportation sector, including the renewal of the country’s air fleet, but warned France it risked missing out unless it changed its stance toward Tehran.
Reviewing the outcomes of Akhoundi’s three-day visit to France at the invitation of the French government to attend the 51st International Paris Air Show, France Inter radio station reported on the meetings between the minister and Airbus and KLM top managers.
In response to a question on the impact of France’s hard stance against Iran in nuclear talks on large commercial deals, the station quoted officials close to the French president as saying: “France will restore its position in Iran’s economy as soon as the nuclear deal is sealed.”
Reuters also reflected the visit and quoted the minister as saying: “There is no Iran strategy in France, and this is a source of regret. Sooner or later the nuclear conflict will be resolved and France needs to decide on its position now.”
