Sigmar Gabriel will be making his second visit to Iran after last July’s nuclear deal, aimed at expanding economic relations between the two countries.
Iran-Germany Joint Economic Commission’s meeting will be held May 2-4, for the first time after 15 years. The last meeting was held in 2001.
Gabriel will be leading an economic delegation, which consists of the country's major companies' representatives, while the Iranian delegation will be headed by Iran's Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia.
German companies are mostly dissatisfied with Merkel’s distance from Iran, especially under the current circumstances where French President Francois Hollande and Italian PM Matteo Renzi have hosted President Rouhani in January and signed various MoUs with the Iranian side.
German investors and firm owners are nevertheless hoping Gabriel’s visit will lead to one or two agreements, no matter how small, being signed.
One key factor preventing many German companies from investing in Iran and signing contracts with Iranian firms is the lack of banking guarantees. German businessmen hope the issue will be resolved during the visit of Gabriel to Tehran.
Wolfgang Trier, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce, is optimistic that the volume of trade between the two countries that had diminished significantly due to sanctions, will once again increase to 4-5 billion euros in the next three years. He has also expressed hope that trade transactions between Iran and Germany will reach 10bn euros in the next five to seven years.
MS/IRN82051551