Iran’s policy is based on development of its ties with regional countries, a strategy shared by both sides, he explained, pointing out to Iran intensive efforts to establish an FTA with the Gulf states. In this context, he also welcomed his call for security cooperation. Mottaki said he could not attend Manama Dialogue forum last month because he was very busy with other activities.
Manama, Dec. 26, (BNA) -- the foreign ministers of Bahrain and Iran asserted, at the end of their countries joint committee meetings, their determination to go ahead with their efforts to bolster cooperation ties and make trade exchange reach an annual volume of 1 billion next year.
In a press conference following the committees meetings, foreign minister Shaikh Khalid bin hammed bin Mohammed al Kalifa said talks dealt with key topics including political and economic ties, notably cooperation in the gas and oil as well as tourism and health sectors.
Economic cooperation between both countries is based mainly on oil and gas, Shaikh Khalid said, noting that a great progress has been made in this field in less than a year. Shaikh Khalid said that the joint oil and gas technical committee will hold a meeting in January next year to review means of activating the memorandum of understanding related to natural gas which was signed during the Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki visit to Bahrain last November. He expressed delight with the progress made in the Bahraini Iranian cooperation and said that the joint committee will be holding a meeting every six months to follow up on agreements reached.
Shaikh Khalid called on the private sector to respond positively to official initiatives made by both countries to reinforce economic cooperation. The meeting of the committee is the first implementation step in activating the visions of both leaderships on the need to reinforce and broaden bilateral ties, Mottaki said. He stressed on both countries desire to accelerate cooperation steps, underlining Iran’s admiration of the royal reform plan and its impact on investment boost in both states.
Mottaki said the meeting led to very positive results, chief of which was an agreement to provide Bahrain with its gas needs, calling on private sectors in both countries to contribute to the prospective investments.
Iran’s policy is based on development of its ties with regional countries, a strategy shared by both sides, he explained, pointing out to Iran intensive efforts to establish an FTA with the Gulf states. In this context, he also welcomed his call for security cooperation. Mottaki said he could not attend Manama Dialogue forum last month because he was very busy with other activities.
Regarding the UAE islands, Mottaki pointed out that there was a dialogue going on between the two countries and affirmed the strength of ties and the need to further bolster cooperation, saying that bilateral trade exchange between the UAE and Iran reached US$ 14bn in 2007.
