TEHRAN – Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with All-Russia Business Association "Delovaya Rossiya" (Business Russia) for cooperation in facilitating trade between the two countries.The MOU was signed by TPO Head Alireza Peyman-Pak and President of Business Russia Alexey Repik in an online ceremony, the TPO portal reported on Wednesday.Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan and Reza Maleki, the representative of Iran’s Embassy in Russia, were also present in this virtual ceremony.Speaking in the meeting, Peyman-Pak pointed to the good relations between the businessmen and the economic organizations of the two countries and said establishing partnership with large economic organizations such as Business Russia is among the priority programs pursued by the Iranian government in the trade sector.Underlining the positive relationship between Iranian businesses and Business Russia, he added: “The signing of the cooperation MOU between Trade Promotion Organization and Business Russia will help regulate and develop the collaborations between the two sides.”Repik in his address stated that the signing of this memorandum can play an effective role in the development of trade relations between the two countries.“Today's meeting shows the confidence and determination of the two countries to increase business cooperation.

In fact, the most important part and a key element in this memorandum is the creation of a business platform that we hope will help the development of cooperation between Iranian and Russian companies,” the official said.Further in the meeting, Dzhagaryan pointed to the favorable economic cooperation between the two countries and announced that the signing of this memorandum will greatly help to increase the interactions and cooperation between the two countries’ small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Maleki, for his part, stated that there are very good relations between the leaders of Iran and Russia, and said: “In the last year, the visit of the president of Iran and also the head of Trade Promotion Organization to Russia have created great momentum among the private sectors of the two countries.”He noted that during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iran and the meeting with the Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, detailed and constructive negotiations were held in order to expand the relations between the two countries.“In recent months, many high-ranking officials from Iran have visited Russia and the favorable negotiations of the representatives of the two countries will certainly lay the foundation for the expansion of relations and cooperation in the future,” Maleki added.All-Russia Business Association “Delovaya Rossiya" (Business Russia) is an independent non-profit organization representing interests of Russian SMEs, doing business mainly in non-commodity sectors of the Russian economy.EF/MAPhoto: TPO Head Alireza Peyman-Pak