TEHRAN (FNA)- Head of the Tunisian Chamber of Commerce Najib Houli called for the expansion of mutual cooperation with Iran in economic and trade fields.
"We favor expansion of bilateral ties between Tunisia and Iran in all areas, specially economic and trade relations," Houli said in a meeting with members of Fars Chamber of Commerce in the provincial capital city of Shiraz in Southern Iran.
He pointed to the status quo of Tunisia-Iran relations, and said, "Tunisia is actually considered the gate for Iran to enter the African continent and its markets."
Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of Fars province Fereydoun Forqani, for his part, said that setting up the Iran-Tunisia Joint Trade Council will provide a good opportunity for the two countries to broaden their economic and trade relations.
In late October, a delegation of Tunisian businessmen visited Iran to study different ways of increasing economic and trade interactions between the two countries.
The commercial and economic delegation visited a number of industrial units of Alborz province, near Tehran.
Hossein Tousi, the head of provincial Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, said the 15-member delegation had visited the province to become acquainted with its production and industrial potentials.
He noted that the industrial and commercial centers of the province signed deals with Tunisian delegates in the fields of construction, civil engineering, medicine, transportation, furniture and home appliances manufacturing and agriculture. Tousi noted that the ground had been prepared for traders and businessmen of the province to hold direct talks with their Tunisian counterparts.
The official said Tunisia can act as a gateway for the import and export of commodities to and from Africa.
Tousi said a trade and commercial agreement was signed with the Tunisian delegation.
In October, Tunisian President Mohammad Monsef al-Marzuki in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Tunis Mostafa Boroujerdi underlined that his country is willing to expand all-out cooperation with Iran.
"Iran and Tunisia should try harder to broaden bilateral ties," the Tunisian president said during the meeting in Tunis.
President Marzuki, meantime, voiced pleasure in his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York in September.