In an interview with BBC 4, he said that the prospect of Iran opening up for business in the coming months seemed like good news for Scotland’s Oil capital, Aberdeen.
However, he said, “This is not just a good opportunity; it’s unambiguously a great one. Scotland has much to offer. Benefits can flow both directions.”
Commenting on his remarks, the Trading News website noted that ‘the economies of Scotland and Iran both rely on Crude Oil, and Scottish engineers were heavily involved in prospecting for Oil in Iran and developing the industry there in the early 20th Century.”
It said Salmond now “wants more Scottish firms to consider doing business in Iran, but future ties between the 2 countries may go beyond Crude Oil.”
According to the website, Salmond said he was taking a delegation of Scottish business leaders to Tehran to promote cooperation in agricultural technology among other areas. Scottish companies are also looking for openings in the fields of education, digital technology and gaming.
All of the experts agreed that exporting know-how would be a key component of future business ties with Iranian companies, it said.
The Trading News quoted Paddy Collins who is the CEO of Aubin Group, based near Aberdeen which supplies chemicals to the Oil and Gas industry, as saying that “Iranians know what’s going on and what technology they want and need,” he said. “You have got a huge workforce of highly educated people who can easily be trained up.”
“The Key thing is transfer of technology; Iranians want that with every major project,” said Nigel Coulthard, another Iran veteran, who is president of Franco-Iranian economic exchange group Cercle Iran Economie.
Salmond also said, “The Oil industry here is an international one. The ability of Scottish-based companies depends on international prospects.”
Senior executives from Scottish-based Oil services firm Amec Foster Wheeler, and industrial giant Weir Group, accompanied Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on his August visit to Tehran.
Iranian customs authority statistics show Scotland exported $4.7-M worth of goods and services to Iran in the year to March 2015, and imported almost Zero.
Source: IRNA- Date: (20 October 2015)