Iran, Singapore Willing to Boost Economic Ties
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held meetings with ranking Singaporean officials in the Southeast Asian country, weighing plans to swiftly increase trade and economic relations in the wake of the termination of anti-Iran sanctions.
In the second leg of his tour of Southeast Asia and Australia, Zarif had separate meetings with Singapore’s foreign minister and the chairman of its Central Bank on Tuesday morning.
In the meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan, the top Iranian diplomat expressed Tehran’s willingness to boost ties with Singapore City in diverse economic fields, including energy, banking, maritime transportation, and petrochemical industry.
For his part, Balakrishnan hailed a recent agreement signed between Iran and Singapore on joint investment, stressing that his country is keen to cooperate with Iran in the petrochemical industry.
In a separate gathering, Zarif met Chairman of the Central Bank of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Highlighting the ample opportunities for closer economic cooperation, the both officials called for efforts to revive bilateral trade.
Zarif has travelled to Singapore after visiting Indonesia. He is scheduled to pay visits to Brunei, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand afterwards.
There has been growing international interest in ties with Iran since Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 finalized a comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear program and implemented it on January 16.
The comprehensive nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran after coming into force.
