Kazakhstan and Iran to promote investment projects
At the 16th session of the Kazakh-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic, scientific and technical and cultural cooperation took place with the participation of Kazakh Minister of Agriculture Saparkhan Omarov and Iranian Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati as well as more than 40 representatives of Iran, Strategy2050.kz correspondent reports.
Kazakhstan and Iran hold meetings on a regular basis. Today has seen a meeting of Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin with the Iranian delegation, as well as there have been meetings of the Iranian side with representatives of the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development, KazakhExport, the Kazakh National Bank. The meetings went over the current issues of bilateral cooperation.
Opening the session, Mr. Omarov, Kazakh Agriculture Minister, pointed out that Iran is Kazakhstan’s key partner not only in agriculture but also in transport and logistics, technology, culture, energy, tourism, you name it.
In 2018, the trade turnover between Iran and Kazakhstan made up $519.1 million.
“Kazakh-Iranian cooperation in agriculture, health, space, culture, energy, environment protection, and trade keeps developing”, the Kazakh agriculture minister said.
In his remarks, Mahmoud Hojjati, Iranian Agriculture Minister, congratulated the Kazakh agriculture minister on his election to the post of Chairman of the Joint Commission to represent Kazakhstan.
“There were 15 sessions of the Joint Commission. Taking into account out election as Chairmen of the Joint Commission, we bear great responsibility. I am glad to be here to take part in the 16th session on cooperation in trade and economy, culture. This once again proves our commitment to develop full cooperation”, the Iranian minister said.
He went on to say that Iran has established good cooperation links with Kazakhstan and the Eurasian Economic Union amid the signing of the trilateral agreement among Iran, Russia and Kazakhstan.
“Regional cooperation is of importance for us considering that Kazakhstan is our close friend, with Kazakhstan becoming a key partner of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, he said.
He also called on the Kazakh side to figure out the areas where there are barriers to both countries’ cooperation. He said that there is a huge potential as well as opportunities.
“The two countries’ geographical locations benefit such a huge potential. The agreement between Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, the accession of Kazakhstan to the Ashgabat Treaty, the international corridor through Iran, Oman, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, as well as the implementation of the agreements on transit trough seaports, and the possibility of joining Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf via Iran, all this helps develop our economies”, the Iranian minister of agriculture said.
The session has seen the signing of a memorandum to take joint activities for promoting investment projects within the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Adlet Seilkhanov
