Iran, Australia to Further Develop Industrial Ties

Concurrent with the National Day of Australia, an industrial cooperation agreement was signed between Iran and Australia in the presence of representatives from Australian companies, Ambassador of Australia to Tehran Ian Biggs and Director General of Asia-Pacific Affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry in Tehran on Saturday.

In this ceremony, Australian Ambassador to Tehran Ian Biggs pointed to the outstanding industrial status of the Islamic Republic of Iran and said, “Iran enjoys high capabilities and potentials for activity of Australian companies in industrial areas.”

“In a trip to Bandar Abbas, I witnessed giant industrial activities and for this purpose, Australian companies were encouraged to make huge investment in Iran industrial field as joint venture (JV),” said the Australian diplomat.

Turning to this point that agreement letters inked between Iran and Australia have been backed by the Australian Trade Center wholeheartedly, he said, “Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) can play a leading and important role in the development of industrial cooperation between the two countries.”

For his part, Deputy Head of IDRO for Planning and Development Affairs Mohammad Nouri Amiri congratulated the National Day of Australia and said, “With the coordination made in this regard, we hope that industrial cooperation between Iran and Australia will develop considerably.”

As the largest industrial organization in the country, IDRO is ready to develop and boost its industrial cooperation with Australia, he maintained.

The two countries of Iran and Australia enjoy high capacities to boost cooperation in industrial field particularly, Nouri Amiri said, adding, “In this regard, IDRO is ready to play as a linking bridge for expansion of industrial and economic cooperation between Iranian and Australian firms.”

In a related front, on January 07, Biggs, in a visit to the Southern port of Shahid Rajaee, voiced his country’s willingness to expand port and maritime cooperation with Iran.

The ambassador made the remarks while visiting Shahid Rajaee Port, which is located in South of Iran by the Persian Gulf, hosting Iran's biggest and most important trade jetty.

Given the capacities of the port, Biggs said, Australia is interested in boosting maritime exchanges with Iran.

He also said that his visit to Hormuzgan province mainly aimed at getting familiar with its trade capacities, maritime industries, free and special economic zones.

The Australian ambassador said this part of Iran enjoys various capacities for establishing joint cooperation between two countries.

It will be affective in facilitating trade relations, he added.

Biggs also held talks on the conditions of the international interactions between Iran and Australia.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of Hormuzgan Ports and Maritime Organization Allah Morad Afifipour briefed the Australian envoy on Shahid Rajaee Port's capacities and also its latest operational achievements. 

Referring to the fact that the Iranian port has relations with 80 international ports, he said its container terminal is under construction and will boost its capacities to 8 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) within three years.

He went on to say that Shahid Rajaee Port has the capacity of loading and unloading over 100m tons oil and non-oil products annually.

It is regarded as the main exports port for mineral materials, he said adding that moving 20m tons minerals is among its achievements. 

Earlier on January 06, IDRO’s Nouri Amiri announced that Australian government has decided to increase cooperation with Tehran in marine industries and ship building irrespective of the US sanctions.

"Despite the US sanctions, Australia will cooperate with Iran in area of newly-developed marine industries and ship building know-how and technology," Nouri Amiri said in the meeting with Biggs.

"Given the position of Hormozgan province in marine industries and ship building and presence of Iran's biggest ship building complex in the province, mutual cooperation in industrial projects has started with Australia," he added.

Biggs, for his part, underscored Canberra's preparedness to cooperate with IDRO and Hormozgan province in areas of marine industries, tourism and fisheries.

Australian officials have reiterated that they would keep on interacting with Iran despite the re-imposition of the US sanctions against Tehran.

In a related front in August, Director General of Australian Foreign Ministry’s Multilateral Policies Justin Lee said, “The current conditions surrounding the JCPOA have created problems for multilateral exchanges, but the Australian government will keep up its interaction with Iran."

He made the remarks in a meeting with Head of Iran-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group Mahmoud Sadeqi in Tehran.

The Australian official criticized the US for withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Sadeqi, for his part, underlined the importance of broadening of long-standing and growing ties between the two countries, and said, "We have always had permanent political, economic and cultural relations."

The Iranian lawmaker, meantime, appreciated Canberra’s alignment with the European states and not following US policies.