TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Portugal�s deputy foreign minister said Tehran and Lisbon have great capacities to further increase the volume of their trade exchanges in diverse fields.





�My portfolio within the Portuguese government is to handle external trade and investment and the main goal of my visit was to find ways to increase external trades. Iran and Portugal have had long relations for several centuries, but in the last decades our external trade, especially after the sanctions the external trade between Portugal and Iran was very low,� Jorge Costa Oliveira said in a recent interview with the Tasnim News Agency in Tehran.

Heading a large politico-economic delegation, the Portuguese deputy foreign minister paid a two-day visit to the Iranian capital on May 30-31.

He added the first goal of his visit was to increase "this external trade and to find in which areas can that be achieved� in the two countries.

�The second goal was to find out investment opportunities for Portuguese companies here in Iran at this time where the Iranian economy is in need of so many things and where the potential full partnership is great. So I came with a delegation that was a mixed delegation; It was on the one hand a political delegation in a sense that we have political conversations for instance with my counterpart in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or with several vice ministers relating trade, finance and investment; on the other hand I came with business delegation of several companies in different sectors that were particularly interested to find out if business opportunities were so as they seemed to be.�

Elsewhere in his remarks, Oliveira underlined the need for promotion of tourism ties between Iran and Portugal and said, �I am very sure that many things will be achieved because not only has Iran great potential and are Iranian citizens very keen to find out new destinations, and Portugal is one of those destinations. There are many Portuguese groups in the areas of tourism and hospitality especially hotel chains that are looking towards Iran as a place to invest.�

He also said that the two countries can boost their cooperation in the sector of energy.

�There was time that Iran was the main or one of the main suppliers of our oil companies in our domestic oil market. So we had conversations to explain what the current situation is. So the potential is there. We have at least two large Portuguese companies that are looking into that. They are private companies; they are looking into operating again in terms of oil producing in Iran. We have other companies that provide services especially on the welding areas.�

The Portuguese top official went on to say that his country welcomes construction of new refinery projects by Iranian firms in the southern European country following a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, adding, �We noticed that the largest Iranian oil producing company is not only looking for to reestablish the markets that were once buying markets for Iranian oil but there is also a willingness to refine in those places by making new refineries.�

Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 finalized a comprehensive nuclear deal and started implementing it on January 16.

The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.

By Tasnim News Agency