TEHRAN – Iranian Agriculture Minister Kazem Khavazi, in a meeting with Serbia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic on Sunday, has stressed the need to expand trade and agricultural relations between the two countries.

“Iran and Serbia can have constructive cooperation in various economic fields, especially in agriculture,” IRNA quoted Khavazi as saying in the meeting.

“We have had very good relations with the Eastern European countries in the agricultural sector,” he said, adding that “Balkan countries, especially Serbia, are making good progress in this regard and Iran is willing to develop its relations with Serbia in different sectors.”

The official expressed Iran’s agreement for the establishment of a Joint Economic Committee with Serbia, saying that the two sides have great potentials for the investment of their private sectors in various fields like fertilizers and pesticides.

“Iran has oil resources and many petroleum products can be used for producing pesticides, and we can make a good contribution in this regard,” Khavazi added.

“There are also very good fields in seed production in Iran and positive cooperation can be formed between Iran and Serbia regarding seed exchanges,” he further noted.

The Iranian minister also expressed the Islamic Republic’s readiness for barter trading with Serbia saying: “in exchange for oil and other petroleum products, we can have a memorandum of understanding with the Serbian Agriculture Ministry to import grain from Serbia, and we can also trade saffron, herbs, shrimp and caviar.”

He went on to say, “We can meet Serbia’s needs for veterinary medicines and vaccines through Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute.”

Emphasizing the need for the expansion of agricultural trade relations between Iran and Serbia, Selakovic said for his part: “Political cooperation between the two countries is at a very high level, and this should be used to develop trade relations, especially in the field of agriculture.”

Stating that the Serbian Foreign Ministry is also responsible for economic diplomacy, he added, “We are seriously pursuing the expansion of trade relations between the two countries at the State Department.”

EF/MA