Tehran Hosts Economic Diplomacy Conference

Tehran played host to a national symposium on “Advancing Economic Diplomacy with Special Emphasis on Innovative Approaches to Development Cooperation.”
According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, the conference was held on Oct. 21 at the Institute for Political and International Studies.
The event was organized by the Foreign Ministry’s Department for Economic Diplomacy in collaboration with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Several foreign agencies working in the field of international cooperation attended the conference.
The gathering opened with speeches by Gholamreza Ansari, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, Jorge Chediek, director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and Mohammad Khazaei, a deputy economy minister and the head of Organization for the Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran.
More than 300 senior executives from various Iranian ministries and departments, as well as Tehran-based ambassadors and diplomats, attended the event.

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The conference was aimed at explaining new approaches in the field of international cooperation, especially in economic diplomacy.
The speakers, including experts from the United Nations and international cooperation agencies in Japan, Turkey and Mexico, discussed mechanisms of development cooperation, transfer of experiences and ways of securing the national interests of countries within the framework of development cooperation.
South-South cooperation, as a model of development, was also a major issue discussed in the conference.
Representatives from a number of domestic organizations such as the Education Ministry, Iranian Red Crescent Society, Department of Environment and Nanotechnology Headquarters also elaborated on their plans and achievements.
At the conclusion of the conference, Ahmad Masoumifar of the Foreign Ministry outlined the high capacities of Iran in the field of development cooperation, and called for the recognition of all aspects of this component in foreign policy.
The official highlighted the significance of development cooperation in international and bilateral relations, development of national policies, coordination and synergy of all institutions, and the use of smart and innovative methods in this area.
Masoumifar also called on the country’s scientific and academic institutions to carry out integrated studies on development cooperation and help the Foreign Ministry and other relevant bodies in this field.