Syrian-Iranian committee meets in Damascus

The Syrian-Iranian joint permanent committee on Tuesday held a preliminary meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade in Damascus. It was headed by Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Muhammad al-Imadi and Iranian Minister of Housing Abdul Ali Zada in the framework of the visit of the Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to Syria, which starts tomorrow.

The two sides reviewed items on the agenda of the committee. Joint work committees were established in order to follow up and draw draft agreements agreed upon in previous meetings to be signed during President Khatami's visit to Syria.

The proposed projects include agreements pertinent to sea transport, judicial cooperation, tourism, customs cooperation, sports, health, culture, the project to set up a Syrian-Iranian business council, as well as projects covering silos, cereals, cement, iron and steel, engineering, electricity, oil and agriculture.

Iranian sources said the volume of commercial exchange between the two countries reaches nearly $57 million annually.