Iran and Bulgaria need to establish banking and insurance ties and expand tourism and transportation links, the country's Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi has said.

He has also noted Iranian railways could be connected to the railway network of Bulgaria via Turkey.

Akhoundi co-chairs the Iran-Bulgaria Joint Economic Committee together with his Bulgarian counterpart Ivaylo Moskovski. The committee held its 18th session in Tehran on Monday, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting (IRIB) quoted by the Tehran Times.

The delegation headed by Moskovski included representatives of 66 Bulgarian companies.

Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister Lyuben Petrov is also accompanying the delegation of aviation, energy, automaking and pharmaceutical sectors.

Tasnim News Agency quotes him as saying a group of representatives of Bulgarian banks, who are also part of the visit, will be working to resume the banking ties between the two countries.

He also voiced his hope that bilateral trade could return to its 1960s levels of USD 1 B (up from the current USD 50-100 M) now that the nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic Republic are dropped. He put emphasis on the "10-fold growth in the trade between Iran and Bulgaria" over the past ten years.

Iran was a key trade partner to Bulgaria for several decades during the Socialist era, but was one of those Middle Eastern and Northern African countries with whom bilateral trade dropped substantially as the transition to democracy began.

Mehr News Agency quotes an Iranian Deputy Industry Minister, Valiollah Afkhami Rad, made clear relations were "currently at a very low levev" despite Iran's "well developed" laws and regulations for protecting foreign investment and its place as "the safest country in the region".

Just as Bulgaria was considered to be Iran's gateway into Europe (in the words of minister Akhoundi), Afkhami Rad noted Sofia shoud view the Islamic Republic as a hub for goods production and exports to neighboring countries.

He also stressed there were possibilities for Bulgaria to "join Iran and China in the Silk Road revival project".

The so-called modern Silk Road, aimed at restoring old trade routes via Central Asia (by land) and across the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean (by sea), is being proposed by China and is warmly met by Iran and Central Asian countries, but has sparked controversy among some of China's neighbors.

In October of last year, Bulgaria and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to open a transit corridor via Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, but bypassing Turkey.

No official developments with regard to the idea have been reported since then.

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