President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Samad Hassanzadeh has underlined the need for speedy implementation of a trade cooperation agreement between Iran and Kazakhstan.

Hassanzadeh made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran with Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Iran Ontalap Onalbayev.

Noting that the current $300 million trade between Iran and Kazakhstan is not consistent with the potentials of the two nations, stressing the need for them to make every effort to increase bilateral trade to a target $3 billion.  

He also referred to a trilateral logistic agreement between Iran, Kazakhstan, and Russia which he believed could upgrade transportation among regional countries.

Considering that the two countries have solved banking issues which used to impede bilateral cooperation, especially on agricultural and livestock areas, Hassanzadeh said that the ground is now prepared for more joint investment projects.

The Kazakh minister, for his part, said that Iran and Kazakhstan have developed good cooperation on maritime, rail and road transportation, which need to be further expanded.

Noting that almost 70% of the volume of trade between Iran and Kazakhstan are Iran’s exports to the Central Asian country, the ambassador called for more increased exchanges on agricultural, petrochemical and constructional items which he believed could lead to an increase and balance of bilateral trade.

The ambassador added that the private sector operators of the two countries are not well informed about lifting the banking obstacles on the way of bilateral trade and they have to be briefed on this achievement.