Dinarvand said that less than $200m medicines are exported now and the amount of imported ones is $1.25b.

It is hoped that medical exports to reach $500m, he said.

He added that due to price reduction mechanisms, the price of foreign medicines has fallen about five percent.

He underlined Tehran and Beijing intension for bilateral relations development and said that in the meeting of think-tanks of the two countries in presence of Chinese high-ranking officials, the issue of Silk Road was considered.
Khazaei said that presidents of Iran and China signed 17 cooperation documents and concerning the Silk Road Plan said that along the route and ‘One Road, One Belt’, which was proposed by Chinese government, 65 countries will be involved including Iran, as one the most accessible countries on the route.
Referring to China’s important economic and political role in the world and region, Khazaei added that establishment of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was an initiative of Chinese government, which could act as a reliable resource for Iran foreign financial supply.
The deputy minister recalled that Iran’s effective and constructive presence in regional and global interaction as an economic and political power increased Beijing’s motivation to have strategic relations with Iran, so the visit of Chinese president to Iran has a special signifiance.
President Xi Jinping heading a high-ranking delegation arrived in Tehran on Friday evening.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote economic belt of Silk Road and establishment of marine Silk Road in the 21st Century were among documents which were signed by Minister of Economic and Finance Ali Tayyebnia and Head of China Commission of Development and Reforms.
According to official statistics, in 2014, trade exchange volume between Iran and China was 51.851 billion dollars, which showed an increase of 31.5 percent in comparison to the preceding year.

Amir-Hossein Afyuni told IRNA on the sidelines of the 14th International Isfahan Cattle, Poultry and Veterinary Exhibition that the negotiations on exports of Isfahan province agricultural products, cattle and eggs to Russia will lead to beginning of such exports to that country in a test phase as of next week.
‘The Russian Consul General has promised that the issue will be finalized in the presence of the Russian agriculture minister in Iran next week, and then initially the exports of cattle products, greenhouse vegetable as a first step, and chicken meat in the second step will begin immediately.’
He said that presently gateways are being opened towards the economic sector of the country which will naturally lead to the blossoming of both economic, agricultural and industrial sectors.
‘In order to be successful in our export activities we need to maintain the high quality of our export products and our after-sales services and in the case of cattle, poultry and fish products holding specialized exhibitions contribute to the success of such trades,’ added Afyuni.

Mina Mehrnoush, the head of planning at the Organization for Trade Development in Iran, who leads an Iranian delegation on a visit to Moscow, said that now is a good time for establishing new contacts between the two countries’ organizations and companies.
“First, the international sanctions imposed on our country are now gone. Secondly, Russia’s relations with a number of its traditional trading partners are not good, which gives the Iranian firms a chance to establish a foothold in the Russian market. Until now our exchanges have been limited to agriculture, but we now have good prospects also in construction and construction materials, oil refinery and textiles. Iran wants to find a niche for itself in all these segments of the Russian economy,” Mina Mehrnoush said.
During their stay in Moscow, the Iranian delegation met with representatives of about fifty Russian import companies for constructive and very promising dialogue held as part of the Russian-Iranian Trade Council.
Mina Mehrnoush also mentioned tourism as one of the most promising areas of cooperation.
“As far as I know, three million Russians canceled their planned visits to Turkey during this holiday season alone. I think that many more are now looking for alternative destinations and Iran, with its many historical and architectural highlights and resorts, could be one such destination. Russians are welcome to come to Iran!” she said in conclusion.

Basel Aero will launch flights from Sochi, a Black Sea resort in southern Russia, to several Iranian cities in July, Basel Aero said in statement on Friday.
“For the moment, negotiations are underway between Russian and Iranian air companies and tourism operators for organizing flights from Sochi to Iranian cities during the summer season. According to preliminary reports, the air traffic may open in July 2016,” it said, Tass reported.
The statement added that Basel Aero may organize several charter flights from Iran to Sochi late in March when a huge influx of tourists is expected for the Iranian New Year.
Earlier this week, Nikolai Levichev, the vice-speaker of the Russian State Duma, said that Russia and Iran should cancel visas on a reciprocal basis.
Iran and Russia have been taking steps in recent years to strengthen their bilateral relations in different areas, including trade and tourism.
The two countries plan to boost mutual trade turnover from the current $1.7 billion to $10 billion.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Mohammad Khodakarami, deputy head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO), highlighted the increasing demand for flights during Nowruz (the Iranian New Year) holidays and said 10 new airplanes will be imported to the country by year-end to meet the demand.
He further touched upon the CAO’s plans to renovate the country’s air fleet in the near future, saying that out of the 250 airplanes in the fleet, 95 have been out of service, Tasnim News Agency reported.
The aviation official added that given the atmosphere created after the implementation of the nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and termination of anti-Iran sanctions, the CAO is seeking to put the 95 aircraft into operation.
The remarks came as US President Barack Obama on January 15 empowered the Secretary of State to allow the export of civilian passenger aircraft to Iran.
Back in April 2015, the head of the CAO had said that Iran needs to buy up to 500 passenger planes in the next 10 years to renovate its aging fleet.

Deliveries will begin immediately, Hellenic Petroleum said in an e-mailed statement on Friday, Bloomberg reported.
The agreement also includes an adjustment for a financial backlog owed to Iran’s state oil company after sanctions imposed four years ago, according to the statement. Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia discussed potential energy co-operation with Greek Energy Minister Panos Skourletis earlier on Friday in Athens.
“Representatives from other European countries have been making trips to Tehran, so further announcements with the traditional importers of Iranian crude are likely,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director at consultants Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland. The accord was probably the first publicly announced since sanctions were lifted, he said.
Europe had been Iran’s second-biggest oil customer before sanctions were introduced, purchasing nearly 600,000 barrels a day from the Middle East nation in 2011, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Greece was one of the biggest European importers, buying about 120,000 barrels a day in 2011, data from the International Energy Agency shows.
The return of Iranian oil could send prices even lower, as it fills in the gap left by the decline in US shale production, the IEA warned on Jan 19. Flows of Iranian crude to Europe may displace similar grades sold by Russia and Iraq, which may in turn be diverted to the US, Citigroup Inc. predicts.
European oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni SpA and Total SA have said they’re interested in returning to Iran to develop its oil reserves, which are the fourth-biggest in the world.
The Europeans are also trying to recover the ground they have lost in Iran. Before the sanctions, the bloc’s annual trade with Iran stood at 27.8 billion euros, which fell to 7.6 billion euros in 2014.
NITC envisages bourse listing
Iran’s largest oil tanker company said it is envisioning an international listing of its shares just as it prepares for its first sail to the European Union since 2012.
Nasrollah Sardashti, commercial director of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), told The Wall Street Journal that the company is considering “seeking qualification to list of the Tehran Stock Exchange and later outside” Iran to finance a major development program, Press TV reported.
NITC’s managing director, Ali Akbar Safaei, also told the newspaper that the company and its shareholders hope to enter the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
He explained that the shareholders would invest in projects extracting natural gas while NITC would provide LNG transportation.
NITC has received a request for a tanker to sail to the EU, the first by an Iranian oil tanker since sanctions were imposed on the country four years ago.
The sanctions were lifted on January 16 as Iran’s nuclear deal with six world powers took effect.
Safaei also said NITC was in talks with large international shipping insurers to obtain cover.
NITC owns 69 tankers able to carry 15.5 million tons of crude.
The EU plans to send around 15 EU officials to Tehran in February to explore energy ties with Iran, European Climate and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said one day after Iran received sanctions relief.
The “technical assessment mission” includes the initial four-day technical visit after which high-level commission staff, possibly with a business delegation, will travel to Iran.
Potential areas for cooperation include all areas of energy ranging from nuclear, oil, gas and renewable energy to energy efficiency, Arias Canete said.
In particular, he mentioned developing liquefied natural gas and also pipeline shipments through a route the European Union refers to as the ‘Southern Gas Corridor’ to carry supplies into southern Europe.

A sum of $11.8 million had been stopped from leaving Switzerland after being frozen between 2007 and 2012, as part of a sanctions programme against Iran to attempt to force the country not to develop and build an atomic bomb.

After decades of negotiation, many United Nations (UN) sanctions were eased in January 2016 after a milestone nuclear deal was reached in 2015, meaning the money could be released, Swissinfo reported.

A spokesperson for the State Secretariat for Economic affairs (Seco) confirmed on Sunday that the money had been unfrozen. It belonged to either individuals, companies or government-owned institutions.

The nuclear deal also opened up Iran to new international business opportunities, some Swiss firms are hoping it could lead to a fresh market outlet.

Iran says it has signed a deal with Russia’s Lukoil over two exploration projects in the country’s southwestern oil-rich Khouzestan province, reported Press TV.

Hormoz Qalavand, the director for exploration affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has been quoted by the media as saying that Lukoil is to look for hydrocarbon reserves in Dasht-e Abadan and the northern parts of the Persian Gulf.

Qalavand added that the value of the contract is about $6 million, stressing that the Russian company has already started the work over the projects.

It will also take care of all the costs in both projects, the official added.

The Russian company and Norway’s Statoil had won a deal to launch exploration operations in Anaran block in western Iran in 2003. Lukoil held a stake of 25 percent in the consortium and the remaining stakes belonged to Statoil.

Their operations led to the discovery of oil in Azar and Changuleh fields in 2005. However, both had to pull out from Iran in 2011 after the US and Europeans intensified sanctions on Iran.

In December 2015, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov was quoted by the media as saying that he had discussed the prospects for the company to return to Iran to develop Azar oil field.

To the same effect, the company reopened its office in Tehran, with its first vice president Ravil Maganov saying the company looked forward to participating in Iranian energy projects.

Maganov said Azar would be Lukoil’s primary focus but the company was studying geological data from other projects as well.

Nili made the remarks in his address to Seminar on `Post-Sanctions, Opportunities Ahead of Private Sector’.
‘What can be said of Iran’s economic prospect after elimination of sanctions is: Relations can be established with the world and facilities to this end will be provided.’
He said that in the next Iranian year of 1395, one million bpd oil will be added to Iran’s oil output, so the oil sector value added will be up by 30 to 35 percent.
‘Subsequently, the GDP will be increased by 2.5 to three percent.’
Nili predicted that next year, Iran’s foreign trade will rise up by 10 percent and the cost of providing banking facilities will be minimized.
On unprecedented fall of oil prices, Nili said it shows that next year, no major change will be in Iranian government budget because increase in volume of exports checks oil price decline.
The presidential advisor said under the current situation, the bottlenecks will be removed and the private sector will attain a leading role in the economy, so government can mobilize its resources.
‘Next year will be a difficult year for government financially, while being a good year for the public in general. That will be an opportunity for government to restrict its activities and the private sector can be more active through engagement with the outside world.’