Iran, Uzbekistan Consider Establishing Joint Ventures to Boost Trade

Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafei met with Uzbekistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Furqat Sadiqov on Tuesday to explore ways of expanding cooperation between the two countries’ private sectors. The officials discussed establishing joint ventures as a positive step toward boosting the two countries’ trade exchanges, the portal of ICCIMA reported. Speaking in the meeting, Sadiqov noted that his country aims to increase trade with Iran within the next five years and expressed hope that Iran-Uzbekistan trade would reach US$1 billion by that time. Referring to the significant growth of investment companies in Uzbekistan, he underlined some of the most important areas for cooperation between the two sides including tourism, agriculture, mining, pharmaceuticals, and technology.

The official further mentioned holding exhibitions as one of the most important tools for realizing joint cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan, and also stressed the establishment of joint economic companies as a good way for strengthening mutual relations. Elsewhere in the meeting, Shafei emphasized the long history of Iran and Uzbekistan's economic and social relations and praised Uzbekistan’s new economic system and the incentives envisaged for foreign investors.

He expressed the Iranian private sector’s readiness and interest in developing mutual relations with their Uzbek counterparts in various areas like agriculture, medicine, medical equipment, housing, automobiles, and transportation. The ICCIMA head also emphasized the need for the development of cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and underlined establishing joint ventures as a major requirement for realizing this goal. Shafei further referred to the establishment of an Iran-Uzbekistan Joint Economic Committee in the ICCIMA and expressed hope that the Iran-Uzbekistan Joint Chamber of Commerce would also be established as soon as possible.

Resolving transportation problems, customs tariffs, issuing technical and engineering service guarantees, and forming an arbitration committee were other issues that Shafei talked about in his speech.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, Sadiqov visited Tehran to attend the sixth round of political consultations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Uzbekistan which was held on Monday. - Tehran Times