The roadmap was discussed and agreed upon on Sunday in a meeting between Iran’s Minister of Transport and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and a high-ranking Uzbek delegation led by Bakhtiyor Saidov, Uzbekistan’s acting foreign affairs minister.

The meeting was also attended by Ilhom Mahkamov, the minister of transport of Uzbekistan.

Speaking at the meeting, Bazrpash considered the transit sector as one of the important and strategic axes of cooperation between the two countries and said: “The cooperation opportunity and potentials between Iran and Uzbekistan in transportation and transit sectors is ready, and Iran is prepared to enhances ties in this field.”

“The draft of the comprehensive transportation cooperation roadmap has been prepared and there are high potentials for Uzbekistan’s participation and cooperation in Iran’s southern and northern ports as well as the North-South corridor”, added the Iranian minister.

Referring to the possibility of the maritime economy prosperity in the southern ports of Iran, Bazrpash noted that Uzbekistan’s request to become a member of the Chabahar Agreement has been accepted.

Bakhtiyor Saidov, for his part, referred to the implementation of important agreements between the two countries since last year and added that the main focus of economic relations between Iran and Uzbekistan is transportation and logistics.

“Considering the facilities and interest of the two countries, the volume of cargo transportation between Iran and Uzbekistan can increase significantly”, Saidov added.

Other issues raised in this meeting were the compilation of the designing of a roadmap in the field of passenger transport between the two countries, as well as the implementation of an agreement reached between the two sides in 1993 with some changes and amendments.

The facilitation of road and rail transportation by reducing tariffs and facilitating the conditions for the passage of drivers between the two countries was also discussed in the meeting.

In order to achieve better and faster results, it was decided that the two countries introduce plenipotentiary representatives to discuss the details of the negotiated topics.

Meanwhile in another meeting, Head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafei held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Vakhabov Davron Abdujalolovich, during which he called for establishing a joint investment committee between the private sectors of the two countries.

“The joint investment committee of the two chambers, if formed, can conduct detailed studies on the suitable areas for investment and partnership in the two countries and provide the results to the businessmen and the private sectors of the two sides for new cooperation,” Shafei explained.

Referring to the establishment of an Iran-Uzbekistan joint chamber of commerce in Iran, he continued: “I hope that a corresponding joint chamber will also be formed in Uzbekistan. Because it can have a tangible effect on the development of business relations between the two sides.”

Emphasizing that one of the main problems in the development of economic relations between Iran and Uzbekistan is transportation issues, especially rail transportation, the ICCIMA head added: “Unfortunately, third countries play a role in this and create problems in the way of sending goods to Uzbekistan.”

He further made some suggestions for increasing the level of commercial exchanges between the two countries and stated: “Providing some facilities, including bank guarantees for issuing technical and engineering services, which is one of the good fields of cooperation, can have an effect on increasing our economic exchanges.”

The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan for his part welcomed Shafei’s remarks and suggestions and stated that by activating all the potentials of both sides, the volume of trade relations between the two countries can be multiplied.

“I am confident that with the efforts of the chambers of the two countries, we can increase the volume of trade between Iran and Uzbekistan by 20 to 30 percent this year,” he added.

The post Iran, Uzbekistan Agree to Boost Transport Ties appeared first on Iran News Daily.

As reported by the portal of the Iranian Transport Ministry, during the meeting with Qasemi on Thursday, Levitin said he has been tasked by his country’s president to take the necessary measures for the implementation of Iran’s Rasht-Astara railway and the signaling of the country’s Incheh Borun-Garmsar railway line.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Qasemi said: “The Russian side presented the financial plan for the completion of the Rasht-Astara railway project and it was decided that we would give them our response after reviewing the proposed plan; overall the negotiations were very positive.”

“Currently, one Russian train enters Iran’s Shahid Rajaei port every other day, however, there is the capacity for five Russian trains to enter Iran from Sarakhs border every day, and detailed negotiations have been conducted in this regard,” the official added.

The minister emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not any limitations for cooperation with Russia, adding: “Iran is ready to raise the level of its transportation relations with Russia to the highest level.”

Levetin for his part noted that Russia is determined to increase the transportation cooperation between the two countries.

“Based on the order of President Putin, we traveled to Iran for the implementation of the Rasht-Astara railway line and the signaling of the Incheh Borun-Garmsar line and to increase the transport cooperation capacities of the two countries,” he stressed.

Emphasizing the implementation of the Baku declaration and the documents signed during the conference of Central Asian countries’ transport ministers, the tripartite agreement between Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia, and the bilateral agreement between Iran and Russia, paying serious attention to the transit capacities of Iran in the region and turning Iran into a transit hub in the region were among the topics discussed in this bilateral meeting.

Iran exports nearly 30,000 tons of goods to Russia in 3 months

Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) has said the country has exported 29.671 million tons of goods worth $15.7 million to Russia in three months using the facilities provided by the green customs channel between the two countries.

According to Alireza Moghadasi, during the three-month period since the pilot implementation of the green customs channel, the Federal Customs Service of Russia has facilitated the clearance of 1,953 Iranian export applications.

The memorandum of understanding for launching the mentioned channel was inked in early June by Moghadasi and Head of Russia’s Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin.

Following the agreement between Tehran and Moscow, the Federal Customs Service of Russia started providing special facilities to Iranian exporters to accelerate clearing their goods at the customs of the country.

High-ranking Russian trade delegation to visit Iran soon

Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali also announced on Thursday that a large Russian business delegation consisting of the representatives of various manufacturing and commercial companies, as well as chambers of commerce and industry of the Russian Federation, is going to visit Iran in the near future.

According to Jalali, the delegation, comprised of over 100 managers, officials, and businessmen will be headed by Chairman of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katerin.

According to the plans, the Russian business delegation will meet with Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), and a number of government officials in the related economic and commercial fields, Jalali said.

EF/MA

Photo: Iranian Transport Minister Rostam Qasemi (1st L) and Aide to president of Russian Federation Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin (2nd L) talk to press after meeting in Tehran on Thursday.

The post High-ranking Russian delegation visits Iran seeking expansion of transport ties appeared first on Iran News Daily.