Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Iran and Azerbaijan have great capacities to boost trade turnover to $10 billion, the Co-chair of the Azerbaijan-Iran intergovernmental commission on economic, trade and humanitarian cooperation, Mahmoud Vaezi said in Baku on November 7.

Vaezi arrived in Baku on a two-day visit, aimed to prepare the ground for the official visit of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Azerbaijan.

“I believe we will achieve this goal,” he said. He also expressed hope for further development of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan.

“However, in order to achieve the desired development, it is necessary to carry out some work,” Vaezi said.

He said that for the development of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan it is needed to regulate relations in the banking and customs sectors, to create favorable conditions for cargo transportation, and also to boost cooperation of the both countries’ private sectors.

Vaezi also touched upon the importance of strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in the energy, oil and gas sectors. He pointed to the need to increase mutual investments in Iran and Azerbaijan.

“The countries signed an agreement on mutual investing in the past which is still in force,” Vaezi said.

He said that the two-day visit of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Azerbaijan will kick off on November 12.

“It is planned, as part of my visit, to discuss the documents to be signed during the president’s visit. These documents are mainly aimed at developing cooperation between the two countries in obtaining electricity from Azerbaijan, customs procedures facilitation, transportation, power industry, and tourism, trade, insurance and economy sectors,” Vaezi said.

Cultural ties

The Iranian minister met with Azerbaijan’s Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev in Baku.

Garayev stressed the importance of developing relations between the two friendly countries. He said, the spiritual and cultural ties between Azerbaijan and Iran are the basis of their relations in other areas.

He also said that Azerbaijani Culture Days will be held in Iran next year.

For his turn, Vaezi stressed the importance of developing cultural relations between the two countries, and said that holding of the Culture Days of Azerbaijan and Iran is of particular importance in this regard.

He noted that during the visit of Iranian President to Azerbaijan a number of documents will be signed that will contribute to the further development of bilateral relations.

He also stressed the importance of simplification of visa regime between the two countries for the development of tourism. The increase in the number of direct flights from Azerbaijan in a number of cities in Iran also contributes to the development of relations between the two countries.

During the meeting, it was noted that Azerbaijan and Iran have been cooperating successfully in a number of international organizations, supporting each other in the implementation of various projects. In addition, samples of the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan and Iran are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In addition, the sides also noted the importance of increasing of mutual visits at high level for further development of relations between Azerbaijan and Iran.