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| 2003/08/03 |
Ambassador seek Silk Road revival
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08:51:14 �.�
Beijing, Aug 3 - Iran's ambassador to China Fereydoun Verdi Nejad in an interview with a Beijing-based English weekly, published here on Saturday, asked for the revival of the ancient "Silk Road" that once joined Iran and China.
Talking to the chief editor of the 'World Great Talents' magazine, Verdi Nejad referred to the "many-thousands-year history of the Silk Road" that served as a tourism route, a cultural and artistic transactions path, and an economic transit road among all countries on its path for centuries.
"The boosting of Tehran-Beijing political and economic ties can play an important role in efforts aimed at reconstruction of that ancient road," said Verdi Nejad.
Elaborating on Iranian government's efforts aimed at boosting of its tourism industry, he said, "Pursuing a dynamic detente policy with all countries in the world, Iran with its rich cultural background favors exchanging tourists with all countries, p articularly with Asian nations."
The former IRNA chief meanwhile announced the Iranian government's encouragement of foreign countries to make investments in its tourism industry, inviting China's private sector to try its hand in that field in Iran.
He asked the Chinese government to include Iran in its tourism resorts list, that includes 27 countries currently, excluding Iran.
The Iranian diplomat said, "The volume of the Iran-China trade and commercial transactions reached 3.7 billion US dollars during the year 2002, while another 400 million dollars of goods, too, were transferred between the two countries through third st ates.
He emphasized, "Currently, 50 Chinese companies have active representative offices in Iran and Iran's embassy in Beijing issues visas for over 1,000 Chinese businessmen, industrialists, and experts in various fields on the average, each month.
Verdi Nejad added, "Chinese technicians and engineers are currently busy at such infrastructure facilities as road, subway, airport and power plant construction in Iran."
Emphasizing on the "vast unused potentials in both countries", the Iranian ambassador to China said, "all those potentials can be employed to further boost the Tehran-Beijing ties, and Iran is willing to expand ties with China in all possible fields."< br>
He finally expressed as "quite significant" the role that can be played by both centuries' private sectors in boosting the two ancient countries' bilateral ties.
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