BRI benefits hailed by Iran business chief

TEHERAN — It is mutually beneficial to advance Iran-China cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, which could accelerate both Iran’s development and the China-proposed program’s implementation, a senior Iranian business leader said.

The deepening of cooperation between Iran and China under the BRI could help promote “the country’s infrastructure, particularly in the transportation sector, such as roads, railways, ports, airports and means of transportation,” said Majidreza Hariri, president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industries, or ICCCI.

“Such collaborations would also help boost employment in Iran, which is among the problems faced by the country’s youths as well as the educated and skilled workforce.”

In addition, Iran’s participation in the BRI helps develop the country’s mining sector, thus increasing its share of the domestic economy, Hariri said.

“Iran’s ideal geographical position is the first and most important advantage”, which makes the country’s participation in the BRI beneficial for the China-proposed initiative, as it connects West Asia to East Asia via land and sea, he said.

Among Iran’s other advantages are the country’s good political and economic relations with its Eastern and Western neighbors, he said.

“If these advantages are used appropriately and maximally, they can help accelerate the BRI’s implementation.”

Despite the shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICCCI has participated in online exhibitions and held virtual meetings with its Chinese partners to increase the chamber’s presence in the Chinese market, he said.

The Iranian business leader, who has interacted with the Chinese people for about 40 years and visited China regularly for almost three decades before the pandemic, said that “the Iranian and Chinese people, owing to their behaviors and characteristics, can work together” and make friends with each other.

With this year marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. He said that the Party “has helped considerably improve the quality of people’s lives in China”.