By Staff, Agencies Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf called for the removal of obstacles to cooperation between the private sectors of Iran and Syria in order to boost economic and trade interaction between the two states. Qalibaf, who has traveled to Syria to weigh plans for closer economic relations with the Arab country, held a meeting with around 50 Iranian and Syrian business people from the private sectors in Damascus on Tuesday.

He said it is necessary to ramp up efforts to remove the obstacles to the activities of the private sectors of Iran and Syria in various fields in order to form strong trade partnership between the two allies.

Qalibaf also noted that he has visited Syria with the purpose of “deepening the economic, industrial and agricultural” cooperation between the two Muslim nations.

In a meeting with members of Iran-Syria Parliamentary Friendship Group, held in Damascus earlier this month, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said his country has been rid of crisis and is ready to promote economic and trade cooperation with friendly nations, including Iran, in the reconstruction era.

In comments in February, the chairman of Syria-Iran Chamber of Commerce said Iranian companies have priority over others for carrying out projects in the reconstruction process of Syria after years of war