Iran, Kazakhstan sign 5 MoUs to develop bilateral ties

The signing ceremony between Iran and Kazakhstan in the fields of sports, customs, free zones, youth, and tourism was held on Wednesday evening after the end of joint talks between the two high-ranking delegations attended by Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov.

At a joint press conference with Smailov in Tehran on Wednesday, Mokhber said economic relations between Iran and Kazakhstan are not on par with the level of bilateral political ties, and stressed that the two countries aim to raise their trade volume to $3 billion.

“Even though economic relations between Iran and Kazakhstan have climbed by about 20% to $500 million, it is not proportional to the level of political relations and communications between the two countries,” he stated.

“During Prime Minister Smailov’s visit to Iran, it was agreed to increase this number to $3 billion,” he added.

Smailov arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for an official visit, and met with the Iranian vice president to explore ways to expand economic and trade ties between the two countries.

During their meeting, Mokhber noted, it was decided to “quickly develop a temporary roadmap between Iran and Kazakhstan” to improve economic relations.

Detailed discussions were held to expand cooperation in the fields of oil industry, drilling, mining, electricity, auto industry, agricultural machinery, aviation and shipping, he pointed out.