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Following H.E. Gopinath Pillai’s visit to Tehran on 4 September 2007, Singapore Business Federation (SBF) extended our invitation to the Iran Chamber of Commerce Industries and Mines (ICCIM) to visit Singapore with a business delegation from 5 – 9 August 2008. The proposed visit by ICCIM marks a step towards strengthening the bilateral business ties between Iran and Singapore.
H.E Dr Mohammad Nahavandian, President of the ICCIM led a 18 strong business delegation which comprising prominent heads of Iranian companies representing the Tourism and Hotels, Oil and Gas, Transport, Petrochemical, General Trading, Construction, Agro-industries Trading, Services and Retail sectors.
For most of the delegates, it was their first visit to Singapore. The objective of the study trip was to gain first-hand understanding of the business climate and potential and explore opportunities for two-way trade and investment with their Singapore counterparts.
SBF arranged a 3-day program for the business delegates including briefings and site visits to Khong Guan Biscuit Factory and PSA International. In conjunction of their visit, SBF organized a Business Opportunities in Iran Seminar & Business Matching Session that attracted 110 participants and media coverage from Berita.
Concurrently, Dr Nahavandian took a separate program that included meetings with several Ministers notably Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. He also met up with Madam Ho Ching from Temasek Holdings. Due to the sensitivities that surrounds Iran and its political relations with the United States of America, SBF took lead in fronting the visit.
At the Seminar, Mr Tang Kin Fei, Council Member of SBF delivered the Opening Address where he highlighted the friendly bilateral relations between the business communities of both countries and also introduced the MEBG as the community-based platform for greater exchanges between business communities of Singapore and the MENA region.
Ambassador Gopinath Pillai also spoke very well of his experiences as the Non Resident Ambassador to Iran where he agreed that the potential for both Iran and Singapore to further collaboration is indeed huge. The opportunities lie not only in the energy sector, but also in the electronics, tourism and telecommunications industries. Ambassador also went on to elaborate about Singapore’s relations with Iran. He pointed out that politically, Iran and Singapore have enjoyed good relations and that Singapore is interested in maintaining this healthy state of affairs.
In his capacity as the President of the ICCIM, Dr Nahavandian gave a presentation on the overview and updates of the Iranian economy, business dynamics as well as showcased the emerging opportunities to the Singapore business community. Mr Hussein Yaghoobi Myab, Head of Foreign Exchange Investments of the Central Bank of Iran was the other speaker who gave a presentation on the general overview of the investment climate in Iran.
The dialogue session, moderated by Mr Tang drew friendly banter from the business community about the business opportunities that are available in Iran, the banking issues that impede trade and travel restrictions. There were also discussions about the political tensions with US and the current oil crisis.
In response to these question, Dr Nahavandian shared that Iran, like the current Middle Eastern Countries have embarked on an economic diversification program, thus reducing their heavy dependence on the oil and gas revenue. This diversification program has brought about many opportunities in many key industries.
Dr Nahavandian, in his candour self, acknowledged the difficulties faced by businessmen in trade because of the banking processors and procedures and had encouraged Singaporean businessmen to explore using the services of financial institutions that does not have business dealings with United States. He emphasised that the banking issue is one that is a result of the political situation that Iran faces with some countries and hence is not a true reflection of the business climate in Iran. Mr Yaghoobi further stressed, it was noted that there are 17 other banks in Iran under the purview of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and throughout history, there had been no record of defaults.
The concern with banking processors is not new; Singapore banks tend not to recognise credit documentations and transactions that have affiliation to Iran and some of our companies have managed to overcome that through other methods. However, it was noted that there had been a tightening of banking regulations in the recent months that impedes the use of foreign financial institutions and hence our businesses are faced with non-payment issues.
There were also some clarifications by our members on the visa application and travel restrictions to Iran. A check with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore after the seminar confirmed that entry visas are required Singapore passport holders. However, Iran adopts the ‘visa-on-arrival’ practice and entry visas are issued for both leisure and business visitors as long as the passport’s expiry date is more than 6 months and that the individual produces a return air ticket to the authorities.
The dialogue session ended with Dr Nahavandian extending his invitation and hospitality to the Singapore business community to visit Iran.
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