The Republic of Moldova is practically unknown in the Islamic Republic of Iran, said members of the delegation of Iranian media outlet managers, who came to Moldova on a three-day visit to stimulate the development of the bilateral relations between the two professional guilds and the two states, IPN reports.

In a news conference at IPN, representatives of the Iranian mass media said that they initially paid a visit to Ukraine and there they started to look for information about Moldova. They established that they don’t know this country. The Iranians are to visit a number of local media outlets and places in Chisinau and to meet with representatives of the business community and the central authorities.

According to the members of the delegation, in Iran the state or private media organizations receive an annual subsidy of about US$30,000 from the state after they are issued with the license. The mass media institutions in Iran prepare their journalists. The state radio and television company includes a journalism institute where there are studying 600 persons who pay the tuition themselves. The private news agency “Fars” has its own institute for preparing young journalists, which was opened recently.

All the Iranian TV channels are state-owned. The situation at the media outlets in Iran is similar to that in Moldova - 60% of the employees are women, while the executive posits are mainly occupied by men.

Last winter, a similar delegation of Moldova visited Iran. The Moldovan journalists said they were impressed by the fact that the Iranians are open and look as the Moldovans and that Iran has many modern highways that are lit at night. They were also impressed by nanotechnology and genetic engineering, car making and computer production in Iran.

The journalists from Moldova and Iran underlined the necessity of strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries and the two guilds.