SHANA -- The Syrian minister of petroleum and mineral resources visited Iran�s chamber of commerce, voicing the interests of his country�s private sector in joint economic activities with Iranian partners.

Head of the Iran-Syria Joint Committee and a number of Iranian economic activists hosted a meeting with Ali Soleiman Ghanem in Tehran on Wednesday.

In a meeting with Mr. Ghanem, Keivan Kashefi said that the level of economic relation between the two countries had not grown tantamount to their political ties.
�The private sector can play a key role in this regard by tapping the potentialities of the two countries,� he said.

He said the presence of the Syrian official in Tehran could be dubbed as a starting point for oil and energy cooperation between Tehran and Damascus, saying Iran and Syria had not had so much to do in this field together.

For his part, Mr. Ghanem said that his country had intended to exploit the Iranian experiences and capabilities in order to reconstruct their country.