The congress appointed Dang Nhu Loi, Deputy Head of the Vietnam National Assembly’s Committee for Social Affairs, as president of the association.

Nguyen Quoc Thap, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, and Nguyen Toan Thang, CEO of Vietnam Vegetable and Fruit and Agricultural Product Corporation, were named vice presidents.

Founded by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the association is expected to help increase mutual understanding among people of Vietnam and Iran, strengthen and develop the friendship and cooperation between the two nations in various areas including economics, trade, science and technology, culture and education and training.

In the recent past, Vietnam and Iran have exchanged high-ranking delegations and accelerated economic cooperation, especially in oil and gas exploitation and agriculture.

Two-way trade has steadily risen to 80 million USD in 2008 from just about 30 million USD in 2003.

The Association’s founding ceremony was attended by VUFO leader, representatives of Vietnamese ministries and Iranian Ambassador to Vietnam Seyed Javad G.Shahidi.