TEHRAN- Six commercial attachés, before departing for their countries of assignment, attended the 18th meeting of the Trade Facilitation and Development Committee of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) to explain their plans and become aware of the concerns and demands of those active in the economy sector.

At this meeting, emphasis was placed on moving beyond ceremonial approaches and toward operational activities based on the real needs of the private sector, including identifying credible trade partners, facilitating exports and imports, removing currency, customs, and logistical obstacles, and strengthening the counselors’ continuous communication with the private sector.

The meeting of economic actors and traders with the commercial attachés of five regional and Asian countries was held at the Tehran Chamber, with the head of the Commercial Attachés Department of the Trade Promotion Organization and the president of the Iranian Export Confederation in attendance. During the meeting, topics such as the role of attachés in export development, attracting investment, networking, resolving trade disputes, strengthening ties with the private sector, and removing obstacles to exchanges with destination countries were examined.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mohammad Reza Ghafrollahi, head of the Trade Facilitation and Development Committee of the Tehran Chamber, referring to the job description of commercial attachés, said: “Continuous information provision about the market of the destination country, export promotion, attracting foreign investment, networking and establishing connections, resolving trade disputes, and supporting trade negotiations are among the duties defined for commercial attachés.”

Ghafrollahi emphasized: “Any problem that is resolved for exporters or any facilitation created in the path of economic actors’ activity will ultimately lead to foreign currency generation for the country and job creation. Even in the field of imports, attention must be paid to the role of counselors, because a major part of the country’s imports consists of raw materials needed for production; therefore, facilitating imports also helps the continuity and development of production.”

The head of the Trade Facilitation and Development Committee of the Tehran Chamber, emphasizing the importance of interaction between counselors and economic actors, said: “The purpose of holding this meeting is for the counselors’ plans for the years of their presence in the target countries to be presented, and for economic actors to share their experiences, concerns, and problems with them, so that the attachés begin their mission with greater understanding and a broader perspective. Creating communication and connection between counselors and economic actors from the very beginning can yield better and more effective outputs from the attachés’ activities.”

Mohammad Lahouti, head of the Non-Oil Export Development Committee of the Iran Chamber, also said in remarks, stating that “economic actors and responsible institutions must join hands to resolve export problems”: “A commercial attachés can be the intermediary and connecting link between traders of the origin country and new markets, and in many countries, especially developed and developing countries, this capacity is used to develop export markets.”

He continued: “This structure has been formed in our country for more than two decades, but the activity of commercial attachés during this period has been accompanied by ups and downs. In some countries, counselors have established very good relations with chambers of commerce, joint chambers, and economic actors, the result of which has been market development, while in some markets these relations have been less.”

The president of the Iranian Export Confederation emphasized: “Although commercial attachés are selected and dispatched by the Trade Promotion Organization and the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, and their connection with the organization’s policies is important, on the other hand, communication with the private sector, chambers of commerce, joint chambers, and Iranian traders must also be part of their work policies. The closer and better these communications are, the more they will lead to greater achievements by the counselor for the country and to the expansion of Iran’s presence in foreign markets.”

MA