国际英语新闻:Iran woos foreign firms to develop railway projects

TEHRAN, May 15 (Xinhua) -- An international railway exhibition kicked off in Iran's capital Tehran on Monday, reported the daily Tehran Times.

Iran's 5th International Rail Transportation Exhibition opened at Tehran's Permanent International Fairgrounds.

The event will host "130 foreign companies and over 160 Iranian exhibitors," Babak Ahmadi, deputy director of the Islamic Republic's Iran Railways was quoted as saying.

Companies from Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, France, India, Ukraine, Turkey, New Zealand, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Russia, the Czech Republic, China, Germany and Serbia will showcase their latest achievements and products during the four-day event.

Throughout the exhibition, a 250-million-euro deal will be signed with Russia to manufacture 6,000 freight wagons, 4,900 of which will be manufactured in Iran and the rest in Russia, Ahmadi said, adding that "the project is estimated to take three years to complete."