Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov within the framework of the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Almaty met with First Deputy Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad-Reza Aref. The issues of deepening trade and economic relations, cooperation in agriculture, transport and logistics, as well as investment cooperation were considered.

During the talks, the sides noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran's gaining observer status in the Eurasian Economic Union in December last year contributes to the development of bilateral relations in all areas. Iran is a friendly neighbour of Kazakhstan in the Caspian region. For 11 months of last year, trade turnover between the countries increased by 8.1% and reached almost $300 million. The Kazakh side expressed interest in diversification, expanding the range and increasing exports of 60 types of goods worth more than $132 million. In particular, more than 26 million tonnes of grain have been harvested in Kazakhstan this year. Domestic exporters are ready to meet Iran's market demand for grain products, including wheat, barley and oilseeds. In general, for 11 months of last year trade turnover of agro-industrial goods between Kazakhstan and Iran increased by 25% and reached $186 million.

Discussed issues of cooperation in the transport and logistics sector with a view to increasing the volume of freight traffic within the international corridor ‘North-South’, the expansion of transit opportunities and infrastructure development. Prospects of modernisation of terminals of Kazakh (Aktau, Kuryk) and Iranian (Anzali, Amirabad) ports were considered.

"Our main goal is full fulfilment of the tasks defined by the Heads of State and raising Kazakhstan-Iran cooperation to a qualitatively new level. The potential of our trade and economic partnership is high and we have enough opportunities for its further development. I believe that today's negotiations, held in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect, will give an opportunity to strengthen multilateral cooperation between our countries," Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.

"Our states are linked geographically and territorially. A constructive political dialogue has been established between the leaders of our countries. The Heads of State have set a goal for the governments to increase bilateral trade to $3 billion. For our part, we are ready for a comprehensive discussion on expanding bilateral cooperation," Mohammad-Reza Aref said.

#Olzhas Bektenov #The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan #Eurasian Intergovernmental Council #International Cooperation #Investments #Trade and economic cooperation

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