As part of his official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov held negotiations with the First Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber.

The parties discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation, including the development of trade and economic relations, deepening cooperation in agriculture, attracting investments, implementation of promising projects in the transit-transport sphere and increasing the volume of cargo transportation, etc.

The Prime Minister stressed that Iran is one of Kazakhstan's key partners in the Persian Gulf. Last year the trade turnover between the countries grew by almost 20 percent, amounting to $528 million. At the same time, Kazakhstan is ready to increase exports on 75 commodity items worth about $ 250 million.

"I am sure that as our economic potential is fully unlocked, we will be able to bring the index of mutual trade up to $3 billion. To do this, we have serious reserves in such areas as energy, transport and logistics, agriculture and industry," Alikhan Smailov said.

According to him, it is especially perspective to increase supplies in the field of agriculture, the share of which in the mutual trade exceeds 70%. So, there is an opportunity to increase the turnover of agricultural products to $1billion. In this regard, Kazakhstan is ready to supply the Iranian market with flour, confectionery and pasta, meat products, vegetable oils, etc. At the same time, Kazakhstan is interested in early vegetables and fruits, the need for which grows during the off-season.

Another important direction is the development of international transport corridors by removing administrative and technical barriers, modernizing roads and railroads, and increasing the logistics capacity of maritime infrastructure. Of particular importance in this part is the North-South transport corridor and specifically the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran route.

"The Government of Kazakhstan is aimed at the full implementation of the tasks set by the heads of our states and bringing the Kazakh-Iranian partnership to a qualitatively new level," Alikhan Smailov emphasized.

For his part Mohammad Mokhber noted the high potential of bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and Iran in all spheres of the economy. In particular, he outlined prospects for cooperation in the industry, energy, agriculture, health, tourism and other sectors.

The First Vice President also called for the maximum use of regional and international transport corridors to increase the flow of goods.

"Relations between Iran and Kazakhstan have always been of a good nature. On the political side, our relations are at the highest level. I am sure that your visit will give an impetus to the development of trade and economic relations between our countries. There is no doubt that we need to stimulate the private sector so that companies are more actively involved in the interaction process. We invite Kazakh companies to actively participate in the development of our partnership," Mohammad Mohber said.

As a result of negotiations, the parties expressed readiness to develop a road map for the implementation of the agreements reached.

Then the ceremony of signing bilateral interdepartmental and commercial documents took place, including memorandums of cooperation in tourism, sports, work with youth and training of customs officials, as well as an agreement on development of transportation between the ports of Kuryk and Amirabad.

The meeting was followed by a joint press appearance by Alikhan Smailov and Mohammad Mohber.

"Openly, in a confidential atmosphere we discussed the main topics of the current Kazakh-Iranian agenda. We noted with satisfaction the highly successful development of contacts between our countries. We had a fruitful exchange of views on a number of topical issues. First of all they concerned expansion of trade-economic, investment and cultural ties between our countries," Alikhan Smailov said, addressing the media.

In turn, Mohammad Mokhber said that despite the growth of mutual trade in the last year, the achieved volumes do not reflect the full potential.

"I am confident that the visit of the distinguished Prime Minister will make a significant contribution to achieving a $3 billion trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Iran. We also agreed to activate the transit process, cooperation between knowledge-intensive companies and interaction in the field of tourism," Mohammad Mokhber said.