TEHRAN: Iran and Kazakhstan have affirmed the need to expand cooperation in the banking and mining spheres.
In a meeting between Trade Promotion Organization of Iran Chairman Valiollah Afkhamirad and Kazakh Ambassador in Iran Bagdad Kultayevich Amreyev in Tehran, the Kazakh official said his country prioritizes economic cooperation with Iran.
He added that Kazakhstan was ready to sign a preferential trade agreement with Iran, officials said here the other day.
Afkhamirad, for his part, said that a trade delegation will be dispatched to Kazakhstan in the near future.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has described Iran as a reliable partner in the Caspian Sea region, saying the two countries must work to increase their trade exchanges, which have witnessed a decline over the past years.
On May 25, Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia stated that Iran and Kazakhstan have great potential to boost their annual bilateral trade to $5 billion.
The annual non-oil trade between Iran and Kazakhstan amounted to $293.4 million in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014, according to the Iran Customs Administration.
Kazakhstan exported $209.6 million of goods to Iran and imported $83.8 million of goods from the country in Iranian year 1392 (March 2013-March 2014).
