Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Iran plans to establish a free economic zone in the Caspian Sea engaged in oil and gas and energy technologies.

This was announced at a meeting held between Rabi’ Fallah Jolodar, the governor-general of Iran’s Mazandaran province and Rakimbek Amirjanov, the deputy governor-general of Kazakhstan’s Mangistau region.

During the meeting, Jolodar raised the issue of cooperation with the Mangistau region in the oil and gas sector. In particular, he noted that Kazakhstan and Iran have held talks on cooperation in the rational use of water resources and energy, and the two countries have reached an agreement on the implementation of a large-scale project on the establishment of a free economic zone engaged in the oil and gas and energy technologies.

"Such an international oil and gas center would provide quality services to the Gulf and CIS countries," he said.

Jolodar went on to add that the Mazandaran province enjoys significant prospects in tourism, road and urban construction, the provision of engineering services, transport, oil, gas, the petrochemical industry, and agriculture, and claimed that Mazandaran’s companies intend to cooperate with partners from the Mangistau region.

The Iranian official stressed the need to establish closer contacts between the producers of agricultural goods of the Mazandaran province and Mangistau region.

"Iranian Amirabad port enjoys great prospects in terms of establishing international maritime relations," he said. "Maritime transport provides a number of advantages in trade with Kazakhstan, and the Amirabad port serves as a gateway for the delivery of goods from Kazakhstan to Iran and to the Mazandaran province."

Amirjanov, in turn, mentioned opportunities in Mazandaran province in commercial fishing and aquaculture, and highly appreciated its experience in the breeding of sturgeon.

"One of the main goals of the Kazakh delegation's visit to the Mazandaran province is to establish direct air links between the cities of Sari and Aktau," he said. "The economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and interaction in the medical field will be greatly simplified with the implementation of this plan."

Amirjanov expressed confidence that the Mazandaran province can successfully meet the needs of the Mangistau region in its demand for flowers and ornamental plants.

"The Mazandaran province and the Mangistau region are able to develop cooperation in the field of medical tourism as the Iranian province enjoys broad capabilities in the medical field and has qualified medical personnel," he added.

Kazakhstan and Iran cooperate fruitfully in international and regional organizations, including the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The volume of trade turnover in 2014 amounted to $1 billion, 1.6 times more than in 2013. Data released by Iran’s Customs Administration shows that last year, Iran exported $205.11 million of non-oil goods to Kazakhstan and imported $175.95 million worth non-oil goods from the Central Asian country.

The business community of Iran is interested in the Kazakh market. The two countries plan to sign agreements on the establishment of 50 oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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