|
Exclusive interview with Lord Lamont
21/07/2004
|  |
Interviewer – Thank you for accepting our offer to do an interview with you in which we would like to cover a few points with you. First we would like to ask you whether you had any sort of preconception as to what you will be doing during your appointment as the Chairman of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce?
Lord Lamont – Well I have been involved with the Chamber of Commerce for some time, I have only just become the Chairman but because I am involved with the Balli Group which is a British company which invests and has interests in Iran and is owned by a family whose origins are Iranian. I have seen a lot of business with Iran, I have seen what the Chamber of Commerce does.
I think because the Iranian economy is, what I might call, quite largely socialistic – a lot of it is state owned, there is a lot of government intervention. A body like the Chamber of Commerce can play a more important role than it would with the economy of many other countries because there is this strong government influence on trade and investment and business, we are a conduit, we are a means of communication between British industry and the markets of Iran and the government of Iran. We of course have a corresponding body in Tehran, the Chamber of Commerce there under Mr Khamoushi and that means there is a dialogue going on all the time. So I think I see fairly clearly what the purpose of the Chamber is, of course we need to improve trade between our two countries, we need to diversify the trade. I think we also want to get over to many British companies that there are tremendous opportunities within Iran
Interviewer – Given the current climate between the two countries (Britain and Iran) for example the nuclear energy matter and also the seizure of British boats about a month ago – given the current climate; do you think that there would be ways of further expanding relations between the two countries, in terms of business?
And if you were to single out one particular obstacle in expanding the relations between the two countries - if there is that obstacle - what would that be?
Lord Lamont – Well just to take the last point, I think one of the biggest obstacles to expanding trade between the countries is just bureaucracy. Laws may say one thing but its actually quite difficult, I think, to do business in Iran. The law may say this but how it actually operates in practice is often quite different and I think Iran needs to have clear, unchanging, more transparent laws so that businesses know the rules under which they are operating. That was one of the themes I found in my recent visit to Tehran. Businesses would say ‘well we thought that we had won this tender, we thought we had got this contract and suddenly we were told the rules were different from those under which we tendered’. So I think if Iran wants to have foreign investment, not just from Britain but other European countries, its got to create a much clearer framework of rules. I think all that is much more important than the politics.
Politics are a bit problematic at the moment. Iran and Britain always seem to be two countries about to improve their relations and then something always seem to happen. We had this incident with the British servicemen in their boat on the Shatt al Arab. Fortunately that incident was diffused quite quickly, though I think it was unwise of the Iranian’s to parade the British servicemen on television, it was unwise, but fortunately it was diffused quite quickly.
On the nuclear issue, that is a very serious issue and I think Iran has got to understand that the United States is going to press this issue. Now I hope that there will be dialogue, lots of dialogue, lots of communication, not just with the European countries but with the United States. But Iran is a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty and America is alarmed by this and I cant really myself see why it is so necessary for Iran to have nuclear weapons – if that is what they are intending. I think we need to move much more towards co-operation between the United States and Iran. I don’t think the fault is all on the side of Iran, I think there are faults on the side of the United States. This confrontation could be very dangerous.
Interviewer – I agree that there are elements in both countries that are not interested in normalising relations between Iran and the United States. Do you see any possibility in the near future that Britain and Iran would have business co-operation in the field of nuclear energy because as we can remember a few months ago Britain, Germany and France told Iran we would be happy to provide you with nuclear energy once you prove you are not pursuing with nuclear energy for weapons’ purposes. Do you think if Iran proved in the short term that it is not after nuclear weapons, there would be a possibility of having nuclear relations between the two countries?
Lord Lamont – Well I think that is a very interesting issue. I cant see why not and also I would have thought, without being rude to Russia, that European technology is probably a lot better than the nuclear technology of Russia.
Interviewer – So there is a possibility of this. If you were to say there is one condition before they do that – what would that be?
Lord Lamont – The condition has to be transparency about where the Iranians are going. Obviously I don’t have any privileged information about Iran, I don’t know at what stage of development they are but the impression the outside world has is that is at the very least they are moving in the direction of being in a position to being able to develop a nuclear weapon. I think reassurance needs to be given on that point.
Interviewer – Do you think that your appointment as the Chairman of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce would make a difference in expanding the relations?
Lord Lamont – Well I would like to think it would. I had a very good predecessor – Lord Temple Morris who had many advantages over me, he knew the country much better than me, he married to an Iranian lady. On the other hand, I have perhaps more experience of the business connection with Iran than Lord Temple Morris. I don’t see my position as being political, it is commercial although I have been struck how, in the short time I have been the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, all I seem to be asked about is Iran going to have a confrontation with the West over the development of a nuclear weapon and I believe that the relations between the two countries could be improved but I think both the United States and Iran, both of them have got to step back a bit.
Interviewer – Are there any agendas that the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce is going to follow in order to expand relations? Have you set any agendas?
Lord Lamont – We did have a memorandum of understanding with our opposite numbers in Tehran to encourage co-operation, joint ventures in third markets. We intend to stage a series of conferences which Iranian industrialists and ministers can talk about what is going in Iran, about the opportunities. We try to provide information for British companies about Iran. These are the things that we are doing.
Interviewer – Thanks you very much for your time.
Lord Norman Lamont's profile
|
|
|
|
