2m 27s | 926 view | 6 rating

Quite a different picture compared to last year. Some 700 companies are taking part in Iran's annual agriculture trade fair this time; over 160 are foreign companies many of them Europeans who seem eager not to miss out on early bird advantages in the Iranian market with the prospects of sanctions being lifted. Iranian traders couldn't agree more. And a testimony to that is Iran's minister of agriculture's visit to France on May 28; meeting his French counterpart; the first such meeting in 35 years as the French minister pointed out to highlight the importance of the cooperation agreements signed between the two sides. Iran is now looking to upgrade its production facilities and therefore its agricultural market has become more and more important for exporters of agricultural machinery and animal husbandry who say they have been able to make good business in Iran. in 2010 Iran's agricultural imports reached 2.3 billion US Dollars. Iran produces over 90 million tons of agricultural products per year and according the minister of agriculture it has now prioritized attracting foreign investments to develop the sector further more in line with boarder plans to attack an average of eight billion US dollars in foreign investment over the next four years.