Iran Eager to Develop Cooperation with Italy in Railway Industry

Seyed Hassan Mousavinejad, managing director of Iran’s ‘RAJA’ railway corporation, said his company seeks to develop cooperation with the Italian companies in order to boost the passenger transportation services and tourism industry in Iran.

He made the comments in a meeting with Italian Ambassador to Tehran Luca Giansanti on Monday.

The Iranian official also called for the resumption of ties with the Italian companies, one of which he said had been already on the verge of signing a contract with Iran to help the country with manufacturing passenger train wagons.

Mousavinejad then asked Italy’s embassy in Iran to facilitate the promotion of ties between Iranian and Italian railway companies.

Giansanti, for his part, expressed his embassy’s preparedness to pave the way for the expansion of relations between companies from the two nations, saying a vast majority of Italian industrial firms and merchants are vying to invest in Iran.

A whole host of foreign companies have found new grounds for investment in Iran following the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in August 2013.

Earlier in February, head of a group of European investors announced that Italian and other European investors will be invited to invest in Anzali Free Zone, north of Iran.

“The geographical position of the Anzali Free Zone as an international transit path and the legal privileges in the AFZ are among the attractive factors for the foreign investors,” Walter Favil said at the time.

“I invite the Italian investors to visit the various sectors of the region and utilize the investment opportunities available in the zone,” he added.