TEHRAN (ECOIDEAL)- A senior Belgian official called for broadening of Tehran-Brussels relations, and voiced his country's readiness to build hospitals in Iran.
Secretary-general of Flanders’ Ministry of Health in Belgium Karine Moykens made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Jarirchi in Tehran on Sunday.
She deemed the meetings with the Iranian delegation successful in having paved the ground for further cooperation with Iran.
Voicing readiness to cooperate with Tehran on health services and construction of hospitals, Moykens said more meetings will be held between Belgian companies and the Iranian side on expanding cooperation in this line.
"Exchanging positive, scientific and effective experiences in the field of management and construction of hospitals is of great importance to us,” she said.
“We can help Iran to reduce the number of hospital beds and therefore the costs of health and treatment by taking care of patients at home with the use of new electronic laboratory technologies," Moykens added.
She said that the Belgian Agfa Corporate’s project with Iranian Imam Khomeini Hospital in the field of electronic hospital infrastructures can open new doors to exchanging experiences with Iran.
Moykens also pointed to her trip to Isfahan, and said that an agreement was reached during the visit under which Belgium would have research cooperation with an Iranian university for the very first time.
During the meetings in Isfahan, the sides also discussed cooperation in the EU’s 2020 project on health research.
In a relevant development in early November, Head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce Gholamhossein Shafeyee announced that a number of Iranian banks are interested in opening branches in Belgium.
Shafeyee made the announcement in a meeting with a Belgian delegation headed by President of the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce Rene Branders in Tehran on Tuesday.
"The most important requirements for both countries' businesses are banking and insurance ties that have registered slight improvements after Iran’s nuclear deal, but they are still not enough,” he added.
Shafeyee noted that Belgium’s economic, financial and trading strength is significant among European Union member-states and ties with that country is of high importance for the Iranian companies and traders.
“The desire for expanding economic relations is obvious in both sides. Therefore, we have made plans for the Belgian delegation during their four-day visit in Tehran and Isfahan, and we hope to achieve beneficial results through negotiations,” he said.
This is while the Belgian ambassador to Tehran Francois Delhaye noted that there are plenty of opportunities to expand bilateral relations, as the economy of the two countries can be complementary.
“Because of the volatile atmosphere and the US actions, banking and insurance ties have not improved at an acceptable pace, which is hoped to be resolved as soon as possible,” Delhaye added.
The Belgian ambassador explained that in this situation of uncertainty, the visit of Belgian delegation has a special message and that Belgian companies are eager to extend their ties with Iran and the Belgian government has been also actively pursuing Iranian issues in EU.
Iran-Belgium trade stood at $723.83 million in 2016, according to figures released by the Iranian government.
Source: Farsnews