Iran, Saudi Arabia to open joint trade office
The Cradle, April 4, 2023 —
The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in the coming days to pave the way toward a reopening of embassies.
Iranian media quoted a member of the Board of Directors for the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Kevan Kashfi, as saying on 3 April that a joint trade office is set to be established soon between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The move symbolizes further enhancement of ties since last month’s historic agreement was announced between the two countries.
During the 82nd meeting at the Iranian government’s Private Sector Dialogue Council, Kashfi said: “Accordingly, a joint chamber of commerce between Iran and Saudi Arabia will soon be established … the return of calm to Iranian financial markets is a positive result of the normalization of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
Iran and Saudi Arabia “important countries in the region, and political and economic cooperation between them contributes to creating stability,” he added.
At the meeting, it was revealed that the Iranian private sector has already begun taking measures to initiate economic cooperation between Tehran and Riyadh.
Kashfi went on to say that Iran and Saudi Arabia plan to begin exchanging business delegations as soon as embassies are reopened between the two countries.
On 10 March, the official resumption of diplomatic ties between the kingdom and the Islamic Republic was announced following several secret meetings mediated by Beijing, which were aimed at ending years of regional tension.
The Sino-Saudi-Iranian joint statement made following the official announcement of the reconciliation stated that “the embassies of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran will reopen in less than two months.”
In the coming days, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein-Amir Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan are scheduled to hold a meeting in the coming days, aimed at paving the way for the eventual reopening of embassies.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has accepted an invitation extended by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz to visit the kingdom, which Iran has reciprocated by inviting the Saudi monarch to the Islamic Republic.
On 29 March, the Saudi cabinet approved a decision to follow in Iran’s footsteps and join the Chinese-led economic cooperation bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) – symbolizing the possibility of even further economic interaction between the two countries down the line.