Abdullah Mohamed Al Mazrouei made the comment in a meeting with Chairman of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholamhossein Shafei in Tehran on Tuesday.
Emphasizing various capacities of cooperation with Iran, he said that his country intends to become Iran’s first trade partner.
During the meeting, the two sides exchanged their views regarding fields of bilateral cooperation, economic relations and expansion of trade and economic ties between the private sectors of Iran and the UAE.
Stating that the United Arab Emirates is Iran’s major neighbor with deep-rooted historical ties, the chairman of ICCIMA said that his country, after China, is Iran’s second-largest trade partner in the world.
Shafei put the current value of trade exchanges between Iran and UAE at about $24 billion.
Despite many ups and downs, the United Arab Emirates has managed to maintain its ties with the Islamic Republic, he said, adding that all these developments could not affect the bilateral trade ties.
He went on to say that Tehran and Abu Dhabi enjoy high potentials and can raise their bilateral trade value to more than $24 billion.