Tehran eyes wider trade with Dhaka

Iran is eyeing wider trade cooperation with Bangladesh especially in energy sector as the sanctions imposed on Iran are set to be withdrawn following the deal signed among super powers.

Iranian Ambassador in Dhaka Abbas Vaezi shared Iran's visions of future bilateral cooperation between the two countries during talks with diplomatic correspondents at Jatiya Press Club yesterday.

Abbas said Iran is in progress to establish a gas pipeline with Pakistan and India which can be extended to Bangladesh after negotiations.

Iran and six major world powers – the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China, France and Germany -- reached a nuclear deal capping more than a decade of negotiations with an agreement that could transform the Middle East.

said the Iranian envoy, who for the first time came up in such talk with media in recent years, hoped that the sanctions will soon be removed.

Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) arranged the DCAB Talk with its President Masud Karim in the chair. DCAB General Secretary Bashir Ahmed also spoke at the function.

The ambassador said, "Bangladesh's energy deficit could be met by importing natural gas, CNG, LNG and LPG from Iran." The diplomat also mentioned that there is a huge demand of Iran's bitumen and petrochemical in Bangladesh market.

Abbas Vaezi said all the issues related to cooperation in the energy sector would be discussed with Bangladesh State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Nasrul Hamid when he will visit Iran this year.

In reply to a question, he said they are interested to cooperate with the country's lone oil refiner Eastern Refinery in Chittagong. "With the visit of your Energy Minister, the issue will also be discussed," he added.

Abbas Vaezi mentioned that the Iranian government approached the Bangladesh government in the past and announced their readiness to sell crude oil in a "special way" – by importing goods from Bangladesh to Iran instead of taking money for selling crude oil to Bangladesh.

On Iran's stance on fighting terrorism, he said fighting with terrorism is an international issue and all countries must be involved to defeat these terrorist forces.

About recruitment of Bangladeshi workforce in Iran, he said there is a scope to recruit more people in various sector in Iran from Bangladesh.