Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Abbas Aliabadi says Tehran welcomes the expansion of economic, commercial and industrial cooperation with countries.
Aliabadi made the call on Monday during separate meetings with his counterparts and officials from different countries, including Serbia, China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Oman and Lebanon, on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization's (WTO’s) 13th ministerial conference (MC13) held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
In a meeting with the Chinese minister of commence, Aliabadi hailed China as Iran's largest trade partner, and emphasized the importance of further expansion of relations in the economic sector.
The Chinese minister, for his part, welcomed promotion of economic ties with Iran and said Beijing has always supported and will continue to support Tehran's bid to join the World Trade Organization.
Iran has an observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The country has officially submitted an application to join the international organization.
In the meeting with his Serbian counterpart, Aliabadi said as the chairman of the joint committee of Iran-Serbia cooperation, he is ready to play a role in the continuation of mutual cooperation.
The Serbian minister, for his part, invited Aliabadi to travel to his country to hold further talks about enhanced cooperation.
The WTO's 13th Ministerial Conference started in Abu Dhabi on Monday, with the participation of ministers from different countries across the world.
The participants are scheduled to review the functioning of the multilateral trading system and take action on the future work of the WTO.