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345025
Sun, 10/19/2014 - 13:08
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Post-sanction Business With Iran Dominates London Forum

Tehran, Oct 19, IRNA -- The future potential of the Iranian market after international sanctions are lifted dominated the First Europe-Iran Forum held at a central London hotel on October 15 and 16, Sunday edition of the English language newspaper Iran Daily writes in its Opinion column. The forum was organized by a number of Iranian businesses in conjunction with the European Voice newspaper, a leading source of news and analyses on key EU policies, laws and institutions based in Paris. The main purpose of the forum was to “properly prepare and evaluate the post-sanctions trade framework and investment opportunities”. The forum was attended by former British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and former French foreign minister, Hubert Védrine. Although no current EU or UK officials were present at the forum, Asharq Al-Awsat learnt that UK and US officials attended as observers. In his keynote speech, Straw outlined his views on differentiating UK-Iran relations from Iran’s nuclear dossier. Straw, who currently serves as Labour MP for Blackburn, had previously led British negotiations with Tehran between 2003 and 2005. He is known to have a positive attitude towards international rapprochement with the Iranian government. Straw expressed optimism that the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) can reach a deal over Iran’s nuclear file. He said that all sides must work together to reach a deal, particularly following the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which represents a dual threat to the international community and Iran. The British minister said that reaching a partial deal is far better than the status quo. As for what will happen if no deal can be reached, he said, “In this case, while Russia and China will only adhere to UN sanctions, some EU companies will gradually follow suit, hence we will see the sanction regime’s decaying.” According to Straw, UK trade with Iran between 2008 and 2012 decreased by 50 percent in the areas of foodstuff, agriculture and medicine. “During the same period, US trade with Iran doubled, hitting over $600 million,” he said. More than 200 business delegations attended the Europe-Iran forum in London, including Iranian businessmen and women, oil and gas companies, as well as representatives from Iran’s food, advertising, communications, retail, renewable energy, tourism, banking and IT sectors. The event took place against the backdrop of the latest round of nuclear negotiations in Vienna between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry as the two sides seek to narrow the gap between Tehran and Washington, and reach a comprehensive agreement over Iran’s nuclear file. The US and UK have taken a firm position prohibiting the agreement of any business deals while negotiations are ongoing. The most controversial figure to attend the business conference was Sir Martine Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, a multinational advertising agency. In a speech at the forum, Sorrell said that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani — during a private conversation with him at last year’s Davos World Economic Forum — had supported Tehran normalizing relations with all countries in the region. The WPP chief also offered a comprehensive analysis of the Iranian market, saying that this remains the only remaining market that contains huge attractions for foreign investors. The forum brought together a diverse collection of influential and fast-growing Iranian private companies who were eagerly promoting the potential for foreign investments. But all remained wary of effective extraterritorial sanctions imposed by the US, which prohibit any trade or financial activities with Iran unless a license for that specific business activity is issued by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control. One of the forum’s organizers, Esfandiar Batmanghelidj, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We wanted to showcase and introduce to the world, in particular EU and US policymakers, that Iran has a thriving private sector with considerable growth potential and access inside Iran.” He said that the aim of the forum was not necessarily to secure immediate business deals but to “bridge the divide and open dialogue with Iran’s private sector”. The organizers announced that the next forum will be held in February in Tehran where a diverse range of international companies are expected to travel to Tehran to meet with potential partners. This opinion was first published by Asharq Al-Awsat./end

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