The visit of a Dutch delegation to Tehran perhaps received less media coverage because of the high-profile two-day stay of the Italian mission led by Premier Matteo Renzi. Iran’s Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei and the Netherlands’ deputy foreign minister for economic relations, Marten Van den Berg, signed a series of memoranda of understanding on expanding their countries’ bilateral relations on Tuesday. The MoUs pertain to the sectors of energy, finance, banking, insurance, transportation, agriculture and health. The visiting Dutch envoy, who was accompanied by a 30-member trade delegation, also held a meeting with the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Valiollah Afkhamirad, who expressed his country’s determination to expand trade ties with Iran. “Our first step toward that goal would be to establish a direct link between the banks of the two sides,” IRNA quoted Van den Berg as saying. “The Netherlands is willing to invest in joint projects in Iran’s infrastructure.” Referring to the advances made by the European country in different industries and the familiarity of Iranians with Dutch brands, the Iranian official said trade between the two countries stood at $650 million last year, of which as little as $40 million constituted Iranian exports. Afkhamirad floated the idea of direct or joint investment by leading Dutch companies in Iran or other forms of economic exchanges with Iranian traders. He also sought the European country’s support for Iran’s faster accession to World Trade Organization.
