Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Iran and Azerbaijan have created favorable conditions for further cooperation in key economic sectors, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology and co-chairman of the Azerbaijani-Iranian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation Mahmoud Vaezi said in an interview with Trend Agency.

He said currently, the two countries have signed a number of agreements on cooperation in various sectors of the economy.

"The meetings of the Iranian-Azerbaijani intergovernmental commission were not held over the past four years, so no document was signed between the parties during this period. We are here now to resume the meetings," the Iranian minister said.

Vaezi also noted favorable conditions for bilateral cooperation, in particular in industry, were established after the visit of the Azerbaijani President to Iran.

"The positive atmosphere is also felt today after I have had a series of meetings with Azerbaijani friends and colleagues both in the public and private sectors. It is obvious that a new page is being opened in the development of cooperation between the two countries. Our delegation includes representatives from the public and private sectors of Iran. We intend to reach an agreement on cooperation in the fields of industry, trade, transport, including railway links, energy, tourism, customs, banking and oil and gas sectors, ICT and others. We hope to reach agreement on all these fields," he said.

During the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, the two sides will consider the issues of Iran's investment in Azerbaijan's oil sector.

The Iranian delegation includes 60 representatives of public and private sectors of the economy, as well as trade representatives of the border regions of Iran.

"We also look forward to a mutually beneficial cooperation with border regions of Azerbaijan. It is expected to sign the protocol, which will designate specific areas of cooperation following the meeting of the intergovernmental commission. We intend to hold discussions on the preparation of a number of documents in the field of bilateral cooperation. I think our visit to Azerbaijan will be fruitful. The next meeting to address issues of bilateral cooperation in the future may take place in Iran," Vaezi said.

Azerbaijan's capital city Baku will host an Azerbaijani-Iranian business forum on August 7.

The business forum will be organized by Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) with the support of Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy and Industry.

Azerbaijani entrepreneurs are invited to take part at the event.

During the last Azerbaijani-Iranian business forum held in December 2013 in Baku, Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Iran Entrepreneurship Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Iran stood at $94.12 million in January-June 2014, according to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee. Azerbaijan imported some $76.81 million worth of Iranian products, while the amount of export to this country totaled $17.31 million.

Iran's trade turnover with Azerbaijan stood at $470 million ($448 million exports and $22 million imports) in the first eleven months of 2013, Iran's customs administration's latest report shows.