Tehran,May 22, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday that Iran favors revival of Silk Road, the vein of transport link among the Asian countries.
  The President made the remarks in a press conference in Shanghai.
He said that revival of the ancient road can help augment commercial and economic cooperation among the Asian nations.

“Of course, Iran and China have already reached agreement about revitalization of the ancient road and today I raised the issue with the Chinese president.”

The president further noted that transport and transit of goods through the Silk Road would be successful and Iran is ready to take part to refurbish the Asian vein for transport.

On the achievements of his China visit, Rouhani hailed China as great Asian power, saying Iran has good relations with China which is considered an international economic power.

Iran has always had excellent ties with China since the ancient times, he said, noting, “In the past, we had no hostility with the Chinese.”

Iran’s ties with the country has grown to such a high level in the past decade that it has turned into Iran’s biggest commercial partner, the top executive said.

Rouhani said that Iran-China current trade has exceeded $45 billion, which can increase in the coming years in view of the mutual resolve.

Iran can serve as a linking bridge for China in the entire Middle East, he said.

Rouhani was on a Shanghai visit to attend Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in the Chinese city.

CICA is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

CICA comprises Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The idea of setting up such an organization was first proposed by the Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1992. The body convened for the first time in 1996.

By IRNA

 

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