Europe-Iran Business Forum Launches (en)

Geneva - The Europe-Iran Business Forum began today with nearly 4,000 delegates from over 50 countries registered for the online conference.

The International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, has partnered with the Iran Trade Promotion Organization to organize the forum, which is funded by the European Union.

The opening keynotes were given by Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General and Political Director of the European External Action Service and H.E. Peiman Seadat, Advisor to the Foreign Minister and Director General for Western Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The forum will feature public presentations of three key European initiatives that aim to support economic relations with Iran, particularly by developing capacities for European and Iranian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take advantage of trade opportunities.

The launch of a new National Export Strategy will mark the culmination of a technical assistance program funded by the European Union which sought to identify sectors of the Iranian economy well- positioned for export growth, including to European markets.

Recent years have been challenging for Europe-Iran trade and investment. EU exports to Iran totalled EUR 3.7 billion in 2020, down 21 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, EU imports totalled EUR 712 million, up 5 percent from the previous year. European and Iranian companies have persevered, and bilateral economic relations show significant capacity for growth.

The forum will also include an introduction to the recently launched Due Diligence Helpdesk, an innovative EU-funded service that will support European businesses interested to engage with Iran, particularly SMEs.

Plenary sessions will cover the macroeconomic situation in Iran, the continued development of Iran's banking system, the growth of the private sector, the outlook for economic diplomacy, and the rise of Iranian creative and digital services companies, among other topics.  

Officials at the International Trade Centre and the Iran Trade Promotion Organization hope that renewed dialogue and mutual trust will make bilateral economic relations more resilient to future shocks, while also paving the way for expanded trade and investment relations, should conditions allow.

Forum website:

https://www.europeiranbusinessforum.com/

For more media information please contact:

Vittorio Cammarota, Communications and Events, International Trade Centre

vcammarota [at] intracen.org (vcammarota[at]intracen[dot]org)