Iran is ready to export technical and engineering services to Egypt, said Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khaza’ee, speaking at a conference titled “Iran and Egypt, Future Perspective” held in Tehran on Saturday.
Addressing the conference, which was co-sponsored by the foreign ministry and the Egyptian Al-Ahram Institute, Khaza’ee underlined Iran’s economic capacities despite the sanctions imposed by the West, and called for expansion of economic cooperation with Egypt.
“Iran has exported technical and engineering services to various countries and Iranian engineers are currently building dams and other infrastructure projects in different parts of the world,” IRNA quoted him as saying.
His remarks echoed those by First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri last week when he called on the private sector to vigorously engage in export of engineering and technical services to the neighboring countries and beyond, saying boosting non-oil exports is a prime target that is to be pursued by the administration in the next Iranian year (starting March 21).
Khaza’ee noted that Egypt can boost its tourism industry by earning as much as “two to three billion dollars per year” from Iranian tourists.
He further pointed to Iran’s health tourism capabilities as another field for bilateral cooperation and expressed hope for establishing joint economic committees in the near future.
Iran is ready to facilitate trade exchange with Cairo in all areas of banking including banking guarantees, said Khaza’ee, noting that Tehran and Cairo share a common stance on various regional and international issues.
Bilateral ties between Iran and Egypt – two of the largest and most influential countries in the Middle East – turned sour following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed in 1980 following the exile of the deposed Shah of Iran to Egypt (where he died and was buried) and Egypt’s recognition of Israel, after which minimum ties were maintained through interest-sections instead of embassies.
Despite oft-wavering tensions between the two countries, both share membership in various international bodies including the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
