The Italian diplomat was speaking with members and head of the chamber of commerce department in Tabriz, the capital city of East Azarbaijan Province, northwest Iran.
He said that prior to sanctions imposed on Iran, Italy ranked the first among European trade partners of the Islamic Republic, but now trade ties between the two countries have been impacted to a great extent because of those sanctions.
“Italian companies are keen to resume and increase trade with Iran,” Perrone stressed, adding that a number of Italian banks have kept interactions with Iranian banks despite the sanctions.
The Italian diplomat said that his embassy makes efforts to facilitate relations between companies of the two countries.
Perrone also said that his country is well-experienced in manufacturing cars and industrial machinery, adding that Tabriz can have cooperation with Italian firms in this field.
Yunes Zha’ele, head of Tabriz Chamber of Commerce Department, referred to long-running trade relations between Italian businessmen and their counterparts in the city, and said that Iranian tradesmen, including those in Tabriz are interested in expanding cooperation with Italy.
He agreed that sanctions on Iran’s banking sector are currently hindering relations between the two countries.
The Iranian official added that trade relations between the two sides should be promoted, as it benefits Italy too.
He said that East Azarbaijan province can paly an active role in this regard.
Zha’ele explained that the province has good capacities to export energy-consuming goods, while Italy requires equipment whose production needs energy and is not cost-effective for Europe; therefore, he said, Italy can use capacities of East Azarbaijan province in this regrad.
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