Malaysia Says Plans to Open Palm Oil Office in Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Malaysian minister said the Southeast Asian country plans to set up a regional office in Tehran to explore Iran’s market for palm oil and other commodities.
“Since global trade sanctions were lifted in January last year, Malaysia exports about RM1 billion of palm oil to Iran and we are expecting the number to be doubled within the next two years,” Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, said, according to The Sun Daily on Friday.
The senior official said he will make a visit to the Iranian capital next week to hold talks with the country’s health, economy, industry and agriculture ministers over palm oil trade during his 5-day stay.
“The visit is important because it will allow us to explain in details and clear the concern Iran has on the health aspects of palm oil considering the huge amount of palm oil they may import from us,” Mah said.
President Rouhani, who visited Malaysia during a tour of Southeast Asia in 2016, said at the time that Tehran and Kuala Lumpur are resolved to restore their bilateral relations to pre-sanctions levels and then promptly double it.
Anti-Tehran sanctions were removed after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) on July 14, 2015, finalized a lasting nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and implemented it on January 16, 2016.
