Energy
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Oil Minister Hosts German Delegation

Oil Minister Hosts  German Delegation
Oil Minister Hosts  German Delegation

The Iranian oil minister wants to negotiate with German companies ahead of the lifting of sanctions to jumpstart investment in the oil and gas industry.

"Iranian and German companies can start negotiations before the removal of sanctions, so that they can sign contracts immediately after sanctions are lifted," Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Sunday Shana reported.

He met Nils Schmid, the deputy prime minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, in Tehran on Sunday morning.

The 68-member German delegation led by Schmid is set to meet with Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian, Central Bank of Iran Governor Valiollah Seif and Deputy Minister of Industries Mojtaba Khosrotaj.

This is the second German delegation to visit Iran following the historic nuclear deal between Tehran and the West.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel became the first western politician to visit Iran at the head of a delegation of business leaders and attended the Iran-Germany Economic Cooperation Conference held in Tehran in July.

Delegations from two other German states are set to visit Iran within the next 20 days, according to the oil minister's commerce and international affairs deputy.

By sending delegations of industry group representatives and company officials to Tehran, German officials are sending a strong signal that Germany wants to quickly rebuild economic and political ties with Iran.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council together with Germany reached a nuclear accord on July 14, ending over a decade of dispute over the scale of Tehran's nuclear activities.

Additionally, the UN Security Council unanimously accepted the draft resolution, which approves the nuclear agreement and stipulates that UN sanctions on Iran will be gradually lifted. The accord has paved the way for increased foreign business in Iran. As Iran's main economic partner in Europe, Germany is poised to grab business deals all over the country.

  Mutual Interests

Avenues of investment in Iran with regard to Iran's constitutional ownership regulations were explained to Germans and Iran's potentials in various sectors were laid out for German companies during the meeting between Zanganeh and Schmid.

The German companies will look into building 10 oil and gas equipment.

"German companies should choose Iranian partners for the upcoming round of cooperation, and they shouldn't limit their vision to Iran's market but should rather think of the entire Middle East market."

Iran with a young and educated workforce is poised to become the region's powerhouse and growth engine, and Germany could overtake European and American rivals in the race to benefit from Iran's growth. Iran has previously worked with Baden-Württemberg-based companies, according to Zanganeh.  

"We have a mutual interest in energy efficiency and reducing consumption. Iran has high energy intensity—the measure of how efficiently an economy is using energy while Baden-Württemberg is one of the best German states in building machinery and cars, so the two sides can cooperate on the issue."

Baden-Württemberg is in southwest Germany, east of the Upper Rhine. It is Germany’s third largest state in terms of size and population, with an area of 35,742 square kilometers and 10.7 million inhabitants. Baden-Württemberg is also one of the four main industrial regions of Europe.

The German delegation will travel to Isfahan on Tuesday and leave Iran for Germany on Thursday.

Financialtribune.com