Iran and Australia are engaged in promoting trade and things have gone very well, Australian Ambassador to Tehran Jan Biggs told Trend News Agency.
"The biggest event for us was the reopening of the Australian Trade Commission two months ago," he said. "Our Trade Minister Steven Ciobo had a wonderful visit in Tehran, signed a number of MoUs, talked to the ministries of energy and science and also the minister for industry and trade. Everything was good."
Biggs said Australian firms are highly interested in ties with Iran as the Iranian economy has opened up international business in the post-sanctions era.
"There are a number of Australian firms which have great interest in the issue," he said. "We will have to see how they work to prequalify for the international petroleum contract and also many of them which are involved in traditional trade in agriculture and commodities."
Iran was freed from international sanctions following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in early 2016. Since then, the country has managed to reach preliminary agreements and in some case sign contracts with international companies.
The Australian ambassador also identified the sectors that Australian firms are most interested in as they come to Iran. "The things we are doing best and we are most hopeful about for the future are services in the mining sector and business in general," he said.
Executives from GrainCorp, WorleyParsons, LiveCorp, Oil Search, Qantas, Sydney University and Rubicon Water traveled with Ciobo in September.
"We are in the dawn of a new age of the relationship with Iran," Ciobo told a gathering of business leaders in Tehran at the time.
At its peak, Australia exported goods valued at almost $1 billion to Iran before nuclear sanctions slashed the trade to below $350 million.
