Envoy: Singapore Prioritizes Expansion of Cooperation with Iran

Singaporean Ambassador to Tehran Chew Tai Soo underlined his country’s willingness and enthusiasm for broadening ties with Iran in different areas, AVA Diplomatic reports.

“Singapore’s diplomatic apparatus pays heed to the expansion of ties with Iran as an important country in the region and the world,” the Singaporean ambassador said in a meeting with Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi in Tehran on Tuesday.

He pointed to the measures taken to expand the bilateral ties, including holding Iran’s cultural week in Singapore, and said, “The expansion of cultural ties will result in increasing the knowledge of the two nations (about each other) and expansion of relations in other areas.”

Boroujerdi, for his part, appreciated Chew for his efforts during his mission in Iran as Singapore’s ambassador, and said, “The two countries’ officials are after expanding all-out ties.”

On Tuesday, a high-ranking Singaporean trade delegation visited Iran’s Chabahar Free Trade Zone to assess the capacities and chances for expanding economic cooperation with Iran.

“The main goal of this visit is to enhance mutual cooperation and this trend can push the two countries’ relations towards (joint) investment of Singaporean investors in this beautiful and hospitable region,” Head of the Singaporean Trade Delegation Chong Fu Francis said during his visit to Chabahar.

He underlined that Singapore has famous investing companies in different sectors, including power generation form recycled garbage and water sweetening devices.

Meantime, Managing Director of Chabahar Free Trade Zone Organization Hamed Ali Mobaraki said that the Singaporean delegation’s visit to Chabahar “is a milestone in the two countries’ economic relations in view of Singapore’s record in development projects.

In June, Singaporean Parliament Speaker Halimah Yacob in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed the hope that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries would further increase.

Iran’s Chabahar port, which is located 72 kilometers West of Pakistan’s Gwadar port, holds immense strategic and economic significance for India. Chabahar and Gwadar ports are located in a common coast and they are 70 kilometers away from one another.

In July, Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeyee announced that Iran plans to turn its Southeastern Chabahar Port into a trade hub in the near future.