The German economic and trade delegation headed by the country’s Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Energy Sigmar Gabriel traveled to Isfahan and met with the governor of the central province on Tuesday.
The visit was aimed at assessing Isfahan’s economic capacities as well as seeking possible areas for expanding business cooperation with Iranian firms, IRNA reported.
The 60-member German delegation arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a three-day visit at the invitation of Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh. Representatives from major German companies including Linde, Siemens, Mercedes, BASF, Volkswagen Group and GIZ are accompanying Gabriel to meet with Iranian officials and business owners to discuss areas for cooperation.
The delegation on Monday attended a meeting with members of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture. The German Vice Chancellor also met with President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian and Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohamamdreza Nematzadeh.
The Germans are well aware of Iran’s need for industrial machinery to renovate and upgrade its production lines and are hoping to boost their exports after the sanctions imposed by the West over Iran’s nuclear energy program are lifted.
Iran arrived at a deal with the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in Vienna last week as part of which the sanctions will be lifted in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear energy program.
However, Iranian officials stress that they are not just looking for import of modern equipment from Germany. They have been encouraging joint investments between the Iranian and German firms to facilitate transfer of technology and help boost Iran’s exports.
“We have made considerable progress in the industrial sector over the past years. Therefore, instead of buying commodities and industrial equipment from Germany, we plan to increase cooperation in transfer of technology,” Industry Minister Mohamamdreza Nematzadeh said following his meeting with Gabriel on Monday.
Deputy minister of industries, mining and trade Mojtaba Khosrotaj said the Germans were encouraged to jointly invest with Iranian firms in the automotive sector, noting that cooperation would include producing some vehicle parts inside Iran and exporting 30% of the production to neighboring countries.
“The Germans will announce their terms and conditions for cooperating with Iranian firm within the next three weeks,” he added.
