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Tokyo is going to continue its assistance of up to 40 billion Japanese Yen annually for the next four years starting in 2017, according to a statement by Japan Information and Culture Center at the Japanese Embassy in Tehran.

The aid, confirmed in the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan in October 2016, will be extended through the international organizations and United Nations bodies.

The projects include a contribution of $1 million through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to restore Orumiyeh Lake, approximately $2 million in humanitarian aid assistance for the Afghan refugees through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) program, around $1.9 million funneled through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to be used on border controls, fighting drugs, customs cooperation and money laundering, $500,000 to promote integration of industries in Chabahar Port in the Persian Gulf through a program to be implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and finally, $1.5 million in donated funds funneled through the International Committee of the Red Cross for emergency activities in Iran.

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Ali Mohtasham-Amiri, the executive manager of the four-day exhibition, further said that participants will showcase their products including forestry products and supplies, glues and adhesives for woodworking, wood carving machines, printing machines, coating materials, saw sharpeners, packaging technology and packaging machines.

Companies from Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Finland, China, Turkey, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and Taiwan will take part in the exhibition, the official said.

He added that, in line with the policies of economy of resistance, Iranian companies planned to showcase indigenous products in WoodExpo 2017.

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Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan told reporters on Saturday that ATR will deliver three or four passenger planes to Iran Air by March 20.

The planes will be delivered to Iran following the finalization of the deal valued at $400 million for 20 passenger planes, the official said.

On January 11, Airbus also delivered the first plane to Iran under the deal between Iran and Airbus to purchase 100 passenger planes from the French manufacturer of civil aircraft, Fakhrieh-Kashan said.

He hoped that two other Airbus passenger planes would be delivered in March.

After the announcement of 'Implementation Day' of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPAO) between Iran and six major world powers on January 16, 2016, Iranian airlines started direct talks with global aircraft manufacturing companies.

The preliminary contract between Iran and France's Airbus for the purchase of 100 passenger planes was signed during a visit to Paris by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in

January 2016.

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Mohammadreza Bakhtiari, who was speaking during a visit by a Danish chamber of commerce delegation, noted that trade between the two countries increased from $120 million to $190 million year-on-year.

He pointed out that Denmark's Danske Bank was the first European bank to cooperate with Iran in the post-sanctions era, adding that the bank has allocated €7.5 billion for projects undertaken by Danish companies in Iran.

The Iranian delegation, he said, will discuss ways to boost trade ties with Denmark during the visit.

Bakhtiari predicted that Iranian firms will sign cooperation documents with Denmark in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industry as well as in the food sector.

Denmark's exports to Iran stood at $141.8 million in the nine months to December 20, 2016 while its imports from Iran during the same nine-month period reached $6.64 million.

Iran mainly imports medicines and medical equipment from the European country while exporting various types of flooring and carpets, as well as food products.

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Yaroslav Hanak made the remarks during the Iran-Czech Trade Conference in Prague, which was attended by 130 business people.

The official noted that mutual cooperation can potentially develop in various spheres such as energy and transportation.

Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, Masoud Khansari told the gathering that bilateral ties date back to 90 years ago, and in addition, the two countries have traditional cultural as well as political and economic relations.

Transportation, water management, new energies and food industries are among the areas of cooperation, he said, calling for joint investment which will help boost economic relations.

The JCPOA has prepared suitable conditions for foreign investment in Iran, he noted.

The Iranian delegation, which included businessmen headed by Khansari, arrived in the Czech Republic on Sunday to attend the Iran-Czech Trade Conference on Monday.

Following implementation of the JCPOA, the number of economic delegations arriving in Iran has increased remarkably, said Khansari, adding that Iran has hosted over 200 foreign delegations following the implementation of the nuclear deal.

Trade between the two countries reached $59.139 million in the past months — up 25 percent compared to the figure for same month last year.

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Iralux is seeking to facilitate conditions for travelers from the two countries to easily obtain travel visas in Luxembourg and Iran, Mahmoud Kouchesfahani, the executive board member of the Iran-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Iralux) said that.

"Companies in Europe, and even in the US, are lobbying for the relaxation of sanctions, or the removal of all barriers, to work with Iran," he added.

"The Luxembourg community has always been very positive about Iran, especially given the history of the country and its culture. People have been traveling to Iran for years. What they like is the people and the reception they receive in various cities," he noted.

Reports suggest that a group from Luxembourg's young managers’ federation will visit Iran for five days in May 2017 while a new mission is expected later in the year.

The last economic mission from Luxembourg, which included 76 business people from 40 companies, visited Iran last October.

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The group could construct the simulator system in eight months and all equipment used in the system are fully home-grown, "the Head of the research team Afshin Sadeqi" saying on Monday.

Noting that the system will be unveiled early February, he said given the high costs of sending pilots to foreign countries for preliminary training to fly Boeing 737, such a system was built by Iranian experts to save hard currency.

Iranian experts have made huge progress in designing and developing various types of military simulators in recent years. Simulators help cadets receive better training and test their piloting and shooting skills in various climatic conditions.

An indigenous simulator for Mig-29 fighter jets was launched at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport in 2015 in a ceremony attended by senior Air Force commanders.

At the ceremony, Iranian Air Force Lieutenant Commander General Mohammad Bakhshandeh appreciated the country's experts for building and overhauling different simulators.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's Air Force has attained self-sufficiency and self-reliance in this sector (building simulators) and this has improved pilot training programs," he said.

He hoped that the use of existing simulators in the Air Force's operational power would increase by the day.

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Each of the two companies has invested €50 million in the factory whose first product, Peugeot 2008 will be out by March, said Iran Khodro CEO Hashem Yekke Zare.

The two companies from Iran and France signed a contract on June 21, 2016 to launch a joint company in Iran to produce Peugeot cars.

Iran's share of the parts that will be used will initially be 40 percent and increase to 70 or 80 percent in two years, Yekke Zare' said in the signing ceremony at the time.

"We will start the production with Peugeot 2008 and then move on to models 301 and 208," he said.

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Alireza Daemi described the preliminary agreement with Turkish energy and construction company Unit International as one of the biggest of its kind after the international restrictions were eased. He hoped the ministry will finalize the deal before March.

Unit International signed a $4.2-billion preliminary deal with Energy Ministry in June to build gas power plants in seven regions in Iran. The power stations would have a combined installed capacity of 6,020 MW.

"The deal with Unit International is an agreement in principle … it is expected to be approved as a full and final contract by March," the deputy minister said. He also sought to allay concerns over the role of domestic contractors in future energy projects.

"The ministry will ensure that at least 50 percent of operations in all new power plant contracts, including with Unit International, will be carried out by domestic companies," he said, underlining that the transfer of knowhow was a key requirement for multinationals seeking to work in Iran.

German engineering giant Siemens is also in agreement to supply turbines to Iranian power plants. Siemens signed a deal last year to deliver 20 F-Class turbines and also share turbine manufacturing knowhow.

The company also said last week that it has received a major order from Iran's Hampa Engineering Corporation for 12 compressor trains to be used in two onshore gas processing plants.

Mohsen Nayebzadeh, CEO of Siemens in Iran, said the deal is the company's "first huge oil and gas order since the easing of sanctions".

Meanwhile, Moscow, Tehran's economic and strategic partner, is making sure that Russian companies will get a fair share of energy projects in the Iranian market.

Russia's major energy company,‌ Technopromexport, is due to start construction of a 1,400 MW thermal power plant in the southern Hormuzgan Province next month.

The power plant which has four units, each with a capacity to generate 350 MW, will become operational in five years.

The Russians will reportedly finance 85 percent of the cost of the project which is estimated at $1.6 billion.

However, Daemi appears to have excluded Iran-Russia's lofty nuclear energy deal from his account of post-sanctions power deals.

Iran is poised to build two new reactors with Russian help at the site of its only nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south. The new units reportedly will cost $10 billion. Construction is expected to begin next month and last a decade.

With an installed power production capacity of around 75,000 MW, Iran meets almost 80 percent of its electricity demand from thermal plants that have been operating for decades. Close to 12,000 MW is generated from hydroelectric plants and 1,000 MW from the sole nuclear power plant in Bushehr Province.

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Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Terminals Company (NIOTC) Pirouz Mousavi was quoted by Press TV as saying that the Japan-bound consignment contained 160,000 barrels of condensate from South Pars phases 20 and 21.

He added that a 300-ton Japanese vessel had lifted the consignment from phases 20 and 21 as well as another from phases 2, 3, 4 and 5.

He did not specify how much had been loaded from other phases but it could stand at several hundred of thousands of barrels.

Mousavi added that the vessel — named 'Fujikawa' — was also to load 650,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran's Forouzan oilfield before leaving for Japan.

Iran announced in December that it was already expanding the market for its condensate, which can be used to make both fuel and plastic.

Masoud Hassani, the managing director of South Pars Gas Complex, told the domestic media at the time that the country had sent its first cargo of one million barrels of condensate to Europe.

In September, indications grew that condensate had already found a special position in Iran's exports.

The media quoted officials as saying at the time that exports of the ultra-light oil over a period of five months from March 21, 2016 stood at above seven million tons, showing an increase of 76 percent compared to the figure for the same period last year.

South Korea is a key importer of Iran's condensate.  In June, Reuters reported that the country's imports of condensate from Iran could reach a record level of six million barrels — or 200,000 barrels a day - over the month.

Reuters said it had used figures provided by traders to make the estimate given that South Korea does not provide separate data on imports of condensate.

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