Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday mooted the idea of a dedicated Punjab-Iran Chamber of Commerce to harness investment potential between two sides, while seeking technical transfer with the Gulf nation in the critical areas of water conservation, agriculture and agro products.
Interacting with Iran's Ambassador to India Ali Chegeni, who called on him here in the afternoon, Singh also extended a personal invite to the envoy to attend the 550th 'Parkash Purb' celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev.
The chief minister informed the envoy that he had already taken up with the central government the issue of starting special charter flights from Tehran to Amritsar to facilitate Sikh pilgrims expected to visit during the historic occasion.
Highlighting the role of the Sikh community in strengthening the Iranian economy, the CM stressed on the need to take people-to-people relations forward.
In an official release, the CM said he asked the chief secretary to initiate student exchange programmes between Punjab and Iran universities, while also suggesting promotion of B2B interactions.
The quantum of exports of premium quality rice, fruits and dry fruits to Iran could be further increased, Singh said, noting that Iranian urea was amongst the major import items for the state.