Iran businessmen to weigh India market in new year visit
29 December 2018 - Iran is set to expand political and economic ties with India especially after the revival of US economic sanctions that took effect on 5 November.
A delegation of Iranian private sector will travel to India to gauge the country’s market.
The delegation will be headed by Gholam Hossein Shafei, President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA). The group, comprised of auto parts producers, pharmaceutical companies, pesticide and petrochemical producers, will accompany Iran Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in his three-day trip (7-10 January 2019) to India.
Iran-India trade volume currently stands at 2 billion dollars. The head of Iran private sector entity, Shafei, belives this figure could increase up to 30 billion dollars.
Most New Delhi’s imports from Iran are its crude which went down to 276,000 barrels per day in November, a more than 40% decline in comparison to the same month last year, figures by Reuters show.
President Donald Trump withdrew the US out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and renovated economic sanctions on the country, targeting mainly oil and banking systems. However, it offered waivers to India to keep buy Iran's oil.
India is also heavily investing in Iran's strategic south-eastern Chabahar Port in a bid to open its way to Central Asia through the International North-South Transport Corridor.