Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday stressed that the level of trade relations between Iran and Kazakhstan failed to match the two countries’ capacities, calling for extra efforts to improve it.
Raisi made the remarks at a meeting with visiting Kazakh Prime Minster Alikhan Smailov in Tehran, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president’s office.
Raisi said Kazakhstan is an influential country in the Eurasian Economic Union, highlighting the necessity of making joint investments by the two countries in the development of transportation infrastructure from Central Asia to the southernmost part of Iran.
He also called for fostering collaborations in the agriculture sector, using innovative mechanisms in the monetary and banking sectors, improving cultural relations between Iran and Kazakhstan and setting up a joint cultural committee to this end.
The Kazakh prime minister, for his part, expressed his country’s willingness to expand and deepen ties with Iran, especially in the field of economic and trade investments.
Earlier in the day, Iran and Kazakhstan signed five memorandums of understanding covering cooperation in trade, tourism, sports and youths, as well as customs affairs, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
Smailov expressed hope that with the acceleration of implementing the agreements between Astana and Tehran in different areas, the level of bilateral cooperation would rise, producing palpable achievements for the two countries.
Bilateral trade turnover between Iran and Kazakhstan totaled around 500 million U.S. dollars in 2022, and the two countries aim to raise it to three billion dollars annually.
Source » bignewsnetwork