TEHRAN, May 08 (Shana) – The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp says resolution of banking problems with Iran is a priority for estalibhsing and enhancing relations with the country now that sanctions are being lifted.

Speaking with Shana on the sidelines of the 21st Iran International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals, the Dutch official said Iran is very ambitious in agricultural fields and Iranians have to feed their own people but also export here in the region.

“We want to work together with them and we are very interested in cooperation between Iran and the Netherlands,” Kamp said.

The second thing for us is the oil and sector, he said, adding, “Dutch companies have a lot of experience in oil and gas fields and they have done a lot of business in the past in Iran and can do a lot of business in Iran in the future and that is the reason we are here for.”

He underlined transport and logistics as another field of cooperation between Tehran and Amsterdam.

“Netherlands is a typical transport and logistic country. We are the world's 5th in transport because of the Rotterdam port and the way through Rotterdam port to Europe as it is the gateway to Europe. The infrastructure and the logistics is the reason for us to be here,” he added.

“We are investing in a long term cooperation with Iran, so that means we are not seeking only short-term deals and are planning to develop long-term relations together with Iranian government,” the Dutch minister said.

Lifting of sanctions

Regarding the issue with the lifting of sanctions, Kamp said, “It wouldn't be possible to rebuild our relations without the lifting of the sanctions so it was absolutely necessary. They say the sanctions will be lifted within the next ten years but we don't want to wait ten years and during the period we want to build relations. And we are very active.”

Our first priority, he said, is to improve relations between the banks. “We are putting a lot of effort in that.”

By SHANA