Bhubaneswar: The state government Wednesday held bilateral talks with Iran to explore possibilities in trade, tourism and transport sectors.
As part of strengthening the bilateral relations with Orissa, Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran at Hyderabad Hassan Noorian met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday and discussed Iran’s plan to invest in Orissa’s trade and export, tourism and transport sectors along with finding ways for promotion of cultural collaboration between Iran and Orissa.
“It was interesting to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. We held discussions on increasing bilateral ties in trade and export, transport and tourism sectors,” Noorian said, adding that he had also met Governor SC Jamir Tuesday evening as part of his visit to Orissa.
Noorian said tourism sector was emphasised during the discussions.
“Over 40,000 tourists from Iran visit India every year, but the eastern part of the country (Orissa and other states) doesn’t have good contribution to this statistics,” he said, adding, “We want tourists from our country to visit Orissa also, especially Puri and other sites having historical significance.” Notably, this is the second middle-east country with which Orissa has held talks this week for promotion tourism sector.
Experts say with the rising footfalls of tourists from the middle-east country the move may help the state government in promoting its tourism and trade sectors.
Recently, Consul General of Turkey, Hyderabad had held discussions with the CM regarding investment in the state’s tourism sector.
Post News Network