Iraqi: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is at the full service of exporters.
The Foreign Minister said at the National Export Day meeting:
🔹The Deputy Minister of Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the task of monitoring macro and general issues in her place, but apart from that, she enters the arena on a case-by-case basis and works to solve exporters' problems.
Mr. Dr. Kanbari, the economic deputy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is now at the Sarkhas border and after that he is going to the Dogron border to closely examine the problems and work to solve them. He was present within the borders of the country so that he could at least travel abroad.
Earlier I also told the president that unfortunately our borders have become a stopping place instead of a place of movement. There are many reasons for this situation and I do not have the opportunity to address them all now; But we will be present on the ground to find out where the problems are and especially if they originate on the opposite side of the border, to solve them. 🔹 In the field of tariffs, it is also worthwhile to act to reduce tariffs in neighboring countries in order to expand exports. In this area as well, we follow the issues in a timely and appropriate manner.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs operates a headquarters called "Economic Relations Coordination Headquarters", which was established in the 1960s and has continued to operate until now. Perhaps this headquarters is one of the oldest active headquarters in the country. All the economic institutions of the state are located in it, and its purpose is to coordinate foreign economic relations.
🔹 We increased the number of meetings of this headquarters from one meeting a month to one meeting a week and sometimes to two meetings a week. Also, instead of dealing with general issues, we put specific issues on the agenda. For example, the topic of the last meeting of the headquarters was the examination of the issues related to the export of citrus fruits in the Mazandaran district in order to identify the existing obstacles and act to solve them. Therefore, I ask you exporters to help us better perform the duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; both through the transfer of problems and through participation in organizations and participation in meetings of the coordination headquarters of economic relations. At this headquarters, it is no longer only government institutions, but we also invite the chambers of commerce, exporters and agents and other related activists to examine the issues with the direct participation of stakeholders.
🔹 Another action that was taken and I feel the need to inform you is the development of district diplomacy. Neighbors have always been a priority in our foreign policy, but in the current state of the country, especially in the economic field, I believe they have gained double importance.
We started district diplomacy with the aim that the border districts of the country could establish direct communication with their neighboring districts on the other side of the border. Many problems between the border districts of the two countries can be easily solved at the same local level; Mainly issues such as the movement of goods, the activity of border markets and dealing with smuggling. The goal is to investigate and resolve these issues as much as possible in that area before transferring them to the capital for a decision.
For example, between Tehran and Baghdad, there may be many issues and problems that need to be resolved at the national level. But the local authorities of Basra province and Khuzestan province can investigate and solve many common problems more easily.
When we entered the topic of district diplomacy, we realized that the country's districts have many capabilities that can be used in developing economic relations with neighboring countries and even other countries. Gradually, even provinces that do not border with other countries became interested in participating in this field. On this basis, we planned a series of conferences, and the economic colleagues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs identify through participation in the districts their economic capabilities, in order to be a ground for connecting these capabilities to the markets of neighboring countries and other countries.
I have a lot to say in this regard, but due to time constraints, I will postpone it to another occasion.
I emphasize again that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is fully at the service of exporters. We see this issue as our duty and we believe that if we do not fulfill this duty, we will be responsible for the people, the country and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
I hope that a closer, regular and more effective relationship will be established between respected exporters and institutions related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and especially the Deputy of Economic Diplomacy.