Kish Hosts Expert-Level Meeting on Joining WTO in Food Industry Field

Kish Island, October 2, 2016- An expert-level meeting has been held on the sidelines of the first edition of the international exhibition on food industries (Kish Foodex 2016) in the Persian Gulf island of Kish to discuss Iran's possible membership in the World Trade Organization and its impact on the food industry.

A number of KFZO officials, as well as food industry activists, took part in the meeting.

Dr. Seyyed Ali Tababtabaee, an Iranian academician, was a keynote lecturer of the meeting.

Elaborating on the consequences of Iran's possible membership in World Trade Organization, Dr. Tabatabaee reiterated that joining WTO will boost completion and ultimately export in the food industry. He described access to global market and foreign investment as the merits of joining WTO.

"Producing high-quality products which meet the needs of the global market will boost the export of food products," Dr. Tabatabaee noted.

In the meantime, the Iranian academician underscored that joining WTO demands major reforms in the infrastructure sector.

Dr. Masoud Nikafrooz, a senior advisor to KFZO deputy head for economic affairs, was one of the other lecturers of the meeting.

Dr. Nikafrooz, in his speech, elaborated on the impact of joining WTO on boosting completion in the food industry.

He said joining the WTO will have many advantages but Iran needs to get fully prepared to join the world body.

He pointed to Iran's observer status at the WTO and said the country needs to take a more active role in this regard.

Dr. Nikafrouz said Iranian products in many sectors fail to compete with foreign products, however, the arrival of foreign products in Iran's market will ultimately boost competition among Iranian producers and prompt them to optimize and develop their human assets to compete with foreign brands in global markets.

Dr. Hamid Reza Shirzad, investment manager for Kish Free Zone Organization pointed to Iran's growing ranking in global food value chain and described "smart globalization" as an important issue in this regard.

He also described adopting a proper approach to the global economy and finding an appropriate place for the country's industries, as a major challenging facing Iran in the 21st century.

PR & Int'l Affairs Department- KFZO