A view of the Seminar on Turkish-Iranian Economic & Commercial Cooperation which was held in Tehran, May 7

Head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines Mohammad Nahavandian said the drive for privatization gained further momentum with the implementation of the constitution’s Article 44.
“Currently, the private sector can invest in oil, gas and petrochemical ventures. Turkey can also take this opportunity,“ he told the visiting Turkish trade delegation on Wednesday.
Underlining the importance of expanding ties with neighboring countries, the official said, “In view of the global economic developments, which are quite critical, regional bonds must be fortified so that the national economy is not affected adversely. Excessive reliance on certain international relations may be problematic. When a major country faces a crisis, other countries that rely on relations with this country also suffer.“
Nahavandian emphasized the need for establishing direct banking services between Iran and Turkey to speed up mutual trade transactions.
“The more we focus on establishing joint economic institutions and the more chambers of commerce and banks of the two countries work to remove trade barriers, the more bilateral ties will be bolstered,“ he said.
Turkey’s Commerce Minister Kyrsad Tuzmen said in view of the historical and cultural commonalities between the two countries, bilateral relations must expand in all areas.
“In recent years, Turkish officials have worked hard to expand relations with regional countries. Of course, improving ties with Iran is of special importance for Turkey,“ he said.
Bilateral trade in 2002 amounted to $1.2 billion and is forecast to reach at least $20 billion in 2011.
The Turkish minister referred to investments of two Turkish companies in the Iranian natural gas sector and stressed that more cooperation in the oil and gas fields can be lucrative for both the countries.
Tuzmen also said that the rise in transport costs has negatively influenced bilateral trade.
“Turkey is prepared to invest $145 million in Iran’s development projects,“ he said.
Referring to the purchase of an Iranian fertilizer company worth $671 million by Turkey, the official noted that the investment firm Rana Derichlik is ready to invest $60 million in Iran’s fertilizer industry.
He also said that Turkey will buy 1.5 billion kilowatt/hour of electricity from Iran in the near future.
Tuzmen called for establishment of Turkish bank branches in Iran.
“Turkey’s private sector companies want customs, tax and residency barriers to be removed so that they can become more active in Iranian undertakings,“ he said.

Iran has protested to Iraq over reports that Baghdad has backed the United Arab Emirates’ unfounded claim to three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
“The Iraqi ambassador (Mohammed Majid Al-Sheikh) was invited (to the Foreign Ministry) and was notified of Iran’s protest,“ Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told the state broadcaster.
“The Iraqi government was also asked to correct its position,“ he said.
The official UAE agency WAM reported on April 28 that in a memorandum sent to the UAE Foreign Ministry, the Iraqi government asserted its unconditional support for the so-called sovereignty of UAE over the three islands.
Iran has already sent a letter to the United Nations about its indisputable ownership of the three Iranian islands, namely the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Mousa.
“Relaying on historical documents, Iran has always given a documented, firm and logical response to those claims,“ he said.
Hosseini stressed that any claim over the three Iranian islands “lacks logical, historical and geographical bases“.
Despite differences over the Iranian islands, the two states of Iraq and UAE have close ties, with Iran being the UAE’s top trading partner. Iranians also form a sizable expatriate community in Dubai.
Since the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam in 2003, Shiite-majority Iran has enjoyed warm ties with Iraq, which fought a bloody war with Iran from 1980 to 1988.

Iranians are known worldwide as talented and smart people, especially in the fields of science and technology. They reside in most parts of the world and are employed by top American and European universities and companies.
These universities and companies use the expertise of these Iranian scientists in gaining economic and scientific benefits. In other words, these expatriates are helping other countries overcome their technological, economic and educational problems.
Every year, developed countries allocate millions of dollars to accelerate the immigration of internationally educated professionals to their countries and use their skills and specializations in different fields for the welfare of their own communities.
Last week Alia Sabur, a 19-year-old Iranian-American, was declared the world’s youngest professor in history by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Alia broke the 1717 record set by a student of physicist Isaac Newton, Colin Maclaurin.
There are many examples of such talented Iranians bringing honor to their country of origin.
In 2007, three Iranians were among the list of top 100 living geniuses compiled by a panel of six experts in creativity and innovation from Creators Synectics, a global consultant firm.
Engineer Ali Javan, physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed and biological anthropologist Pardis Sabeti were respectively ranked 12th, 32nd and 49th of this list.
In 1975, Professor Javan (born 1926) received from the Optical Society of America its most prestigious honor, the Fredric Ives Medal, with a citation that praised him for “producing an optical device (the gas laser) of unparalleled applicability to scientific research“. In 1993, he received the Albert Einstein World Award of Science.
Arkani-Hamed (born 1972) is a leading theoretical physicist with interests in high-energy physics, string theory and cosmology. He officially joined Harvard’s faculty in the fall of 2002. In the summer of 2005 while at Harvard, he won the ’Phi Beta Kappa’ award for teaching excellence.
Sabeti (born 1975) is an evolutionary geneticist, who developed an algorithm that helped establish the effects of genetics on the evolution of human diseases. He is an assistant professor in the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
So why Iran does not employ these talented people to help develop the country in the scientific and technological fields?
Unfortunately, the number of educated young Iranians trying to leave the country appears to have increased in the past years judging by the numbers sitting for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam--a requirement for immigration to countries like Canada and Australia.
And the cost to Iran of not stemming this brain drain--one government estimate put it at nearly $40 billion a year.
Iran tops the world in terms of brain drain. That’s the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund, which recently surveyed 61 countries.
The IMF says every year more than 150,000 educated Iranians leave their country in the hope of finding better educational, working and living conditions abroad.
In fact, Iran is educating millions of its youth to serve the advanced countries.
The reality is that the scientific and economic gap between Iran, as a third-world nation, and advanced or `North’ countries is wide and prospects for filling this distance in the near future appear dim.
If more research facilities are provided and livelihood problems of researchers are seriously addressed in a way that they would feel free to produce science and new ideas inside Iran, brain drain will slow down.
These facilities, combined with the inherent interest of Iranians in family bonds, will certainly act as a brake to dissuade some from leaving the country. However, the trend will not grind to a complete halt.
Therefore, the officials should take measures for promoting the social and scientific status of scientists. They must also clear the way for researchers, who are determined to leave the country and continue their studies in other countries, to establish a kind of human rapport and cooperate with their homeland in future.